Black Fairy
by MajorStupoid
Summary: Devil Slayer Magic is a fickle thing, always coming with the consequence of agony. Inigo Asher knows this quite well; a Thunder Devil Slayer who finds himself confronting some of his worst nightmares and memories alongside Fairy Tail in their prime. Throughout his adventures, he discovers that while trust in his allies leads him to victory many times, trust can also lead to defeat.
1. 1 Late

**VERY IMPORTANT UPDATE:**

 **Oh my gosh, it's finally here! The sequel to Black Fairy is up right now! Hurry, go my children, fly over to Living Legacy...well, once you're done here anyway. And for those of you who haven't read this particular story already, what the hell are you doing reading something for people who've finished already? Go, read it! It's good, I promise!**

I trudged through the summery forest just as aimlessly as I had the plains for it, and the town before it, and the lake before it, but this time…felt different somehow. Maybe it was because a rumbling was felt and an explosion was seen above the trees. "So…boring…" I said quietly to myself as I hopped up to the tops of the trees, looking for the source of the blast. I soon saw the smoke and headed in that direction.

When I arrived, I saw twelve figures, nine out of commission, one leaned up against a tree with a nasty wound on her arm, and the other two trying to patch up the rest. I walked around bit, surprisingly not attracting any attention for the two. I reached into my pack and brought out an apple, sitting behind the injured tree-leaner, taking a nice bite in with my unbandaged arm. "Hey there; looks rough," I commented.

"If you're not going to help, then buzz off!" she snapped, clearly not in the mood for games. I turned my head to her, taking another bite before crawling t in front of her, examining the wound. I, rather forcefully, grabbed her arm and pulled it up to get a better look. She looked to be trying to wrestle free, but she was so weak from the poison that she couldn't put up much of a fight. "What're you doing?" she demanded weakly.

"Hm…I'd say you got a couple of hours before you kick the bucket," I commented with a casual smile to offset the words that just spewed from my mouth. "What do you say I fix you up?"

She gave me a look of shock. "You can…?"

"Sure can. Hang on," I said as I placed my bandaged hand over the wound. The runes lining my arm under the bandage began to shine through in a dank and menacing black. The woman swatted my hand away. "What?"

"…Dark…magic…" she choked out.

"Look, lady, it's either this or the bucket; your choice," I said, once again placing my hand over her wound. The glow returned and with a few grunts of pain from the woman, the wound was at least free of the stigma. "My magic makes me immune to curses and poison, and I can temporarily transfer that power to others; at least for long enough to dispel the stigma in question," I explained.

The woman was catching her breath. "You're a mage I see," she commented. I looked at her mark.

"Fairy Tail, huh?" I commented.

"That's right, and you're…" she searched my body as we both stood. "Um…"

"I'm an independent mage," I said. "Though…maybe after I find what I'm looking for, then I can join a guild," I said further.

"And what is it you're looking for?"

"Well, before I tell, how about a name to put to that lovely face?" I winked at her as she gave me a look of mild or mock disgust.

"Erza; Erza Scarlet; an S-class Fairy Tail mage."

"I see, and, uh…what are you doing here, so far away from Magnolia?"

"We happen to be dealing with…well, I might be inclined to give you a full story if you give me a name to put to that ugly mug of yours."

I frowned, shaking it off. "I'm Inigo Asher, and I'm a Thunder Devil Slayer."

"Devil Slayer? That sounds like a Lost Magic. I've never met a Devil Slayer. What do they do?"

"Well, a lot of people compare it to other slayer magic like the Dragon Slayers, and it's pretty much the same thing. It's just one was made for dragons and one was made for devils."

"Oh, the She-Devil's going to _love_ you for that," one of the others said as they got up groggily. "The name is Gray," he said as he pointed to his chest.

"Yeah, um…I ask again, what happened here?"

"We're helping to take down the Oracion Seis; a dark guild."

I nodded. "…And you really need all of these guys to do it…and you still lost? Isn't Fairy Tail supposed to be the strongest guild in Fiore or something?"

"You're damn right it is!" a loud voice came from the other side of the clearing as a pink-haired man stormed up to me. "And don't you forget it, pal!"

Erza clocked him on the head, sending him straight into the ground. "Down, boy!" she snapped. "Now, where was I? Ah yes, the Oracion Seis is made up of six of the most powerful mages in all of Earthland. Fairy Tail's strength alone, unfortunately, wasn't enough for this job. We got the help of Lamia Scale, Blue Pegasus, and Cait…Shelter. Hey, where's Wendy?" Erza wondered as she looked around. The others stopped and looked too, no one finding anything.

"Happy is gone too," the pick-haired one stated.

"Natsu, can you follow their scent?" Gray asked.

"Not sure, that poison-bastard's stench is still fresh, but maybe…"

"Hey, I saw a flying snake head that way when I came here," I said as I pointed toward the falls. "Is that who you're looking for?"

"Yes! Yes it is! Thank you, stranger!" a blond stated as she followed the others to where I was pointing. "I'm Lucy, by the way."

"Inigo…" I trailed off as I was left alone again. "Strange…I'm not hurt by the abandonment anymore. And the presence I felt on that woman…it's the one I'm looking for, but it's not…her…" I muttered to myself as I followed them at a leisurely pace. "Oh well…might as well help out while I'm looking…"

I arrived at the falls a bit late to the party. To my left I saw an open field with many artificial racers with Gray piloting one of them and someone else racing him. To my right I saw Natsu being held up by a winged cat fighting the guy on the snake. However, it was right in front of me that I saw the strangest thing.

A man with a deep blue hair color stepped out of the cave, just as if he had woken up, the tattoo on his face made him stick out like a sore thumb. I clenched my fist, feeling my body begin to shake upon feeling his presence.

"There you are…Jellal!"

 **Author's Note:**

 **Quite short, I know, but give me a break as it was a fresh idea at the time, anyway, onto format for OCs should you want to give any.**

 **DO NOT PUT THEM INTO A REVIEW! Any review submitted OCs will be ignored; PM me by clicking on the little letter near my profile name at the top.**

 **Anyway, include name, personality, magic type, good or evil, or neither, and backstory.**

 **Note that backstory could be as sparse or dense as you would like, depending on how much you trust me to interpret it. If you don't want me to have any control over their backstory, then include many details like where they're from, if they know or are related to the canon cast in anyway, etc. Also, once you submit, you will have no control over where I take the character; sorry, but such is the life of a writer to be creative with what they're given.**

 **Also note that I'll rarely accept OCs with OP magic like Death Magic, Life Magic, Supremacy of any kind, etc. Stick to original or canon-modified magics please.**

 **At the start, I will be taking no more than like seven, three evil and four good OCs...at first. I'll probably accept more as it goes along, but hell, it's not even started yet. Anyway, this'll be posted on my profile so if you forget, go there. So...yeah, have fun and be creative.**


	2. 2 Jellal

"There you are…" I muttered as I took a few steps toward him. He didn't even notice me. "Jellal!" I yelled his name, causing him to turn to me. "I've come for you!"

"It seems everyone else has as well," he said monotonously as I dashed toward him. I charged up my fist in white electricity and shoved it toward him, only to be knocked back by an invisible barrier.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you…boy…" a deep voice came from the cave, where a large cloaked man with tattoos all across his face came out. "We still need this one for a while yet."

I stood, creating a mini-thunderstorm around myself. "No! He's not leaving without facing his punishment!" I snapped. Jellal turned to the man. Without saying a word, he sent a potent magic spell at him, sending him flying backwards, before starting to walk away. "What? Get the hell back here!" I yelled, but didn't get a response. I clenched my fist tighter. "I said stop!" Still no response.

As I was about to assault him, Natsu beat me to it, diving down on the cat, right toward the blue-haired demon. However, before he could do anything, the snake-flyer knocked him away letting Jellal escape.

I helped Natsu up, but he shook me off with a look of equal-to-my rage in his eyes. "Get back here, bastard!" he yelled after Jellal, sprinting after him.

I was about to follow, when Erza and another girl came stumbling out of the cave as well, distracting me further and allowing the cloaked man and the snake-flyer to escape. Erza stumbled to the ground. "Whoa, hey!" I called, kneeling beside her. "Are you alright?"

"I don't…things are fuzzy. What happened in there, Wendy?" she asked.

"I…revived Jellal…and then you passed out," the small girl answered, clearly shaken. "They said that…things would go back to the way they were," she exclaimed.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my own emotions. I then chuckled in an attempt to ease the tension. I put a hand on the small girl's shoulder. "Wendy, was it? Trust me; I know what it's like to want to go back to before…but…look at the world around you and you'll see that there's so much t learn about and explore. Hell, a lot of your time will be spent meeting a lot of wonderful people, and going on adventures with them," I spouted words of encouragement before standing. "Now, back to the matter at hand; Jellal."

"Why do you need Mr. Jellal?" she asked, standing as well, Erza sitting down to rest her head.

I turned to her, with a new devilish look in my eye. "I'm going to kill him," I said bluntly, causing both of them to look at me in horror.

"What?"

"You can't!" Erza snapped, standing and facing me. "I need to talk to him, and then he's being turned into the Rune Knights so he can-"

"So he can what? Get out and cause more chaos? I would've been happy to know he'd be stuck in the Tower of Heaven forever, but right now, he's up and about and I need to go stop him from killing anymore of my family!" I yelled, shocking the two (no pun intended). I shook my head, once again trying to clear my thoughts. "I…you didn't need to hear that. I need to get going. See you, Fairy Ta-"

"Wait, I'm coming with you," Erza stated.

"What?" I asked. "You know I'm going to-"

"You can…do whatever you want with him," she said reluctantly. "…After I talk to him. I need to know a few things."

She gave me a steely gaze, as if daring me to argue, but simply nodded. Erza turned to Wendy. "Go back and help Gray and Lyon. We'll be back with Natsu and then we can come up with a plan, alright?" she asked, to which the younger girl nodded and ran off. "Alright, let's go."

We followed where the main guys went and soon found Natsu and that snake-flyer duking it out in the skies. "Who's that?" I asked.

"That's Natsu fighting Cobra, a member of the Oracion Seis," she explained as we continued running. "Natsu can handle it; we need to focus on catching Jellal and Brain."

"Is he the tattooed guy?" I asked, to which she nodded. "Anything else I need to know?"

"That depends, are you going to help us stop the Oracion Seis, or just Jellal?"

"That depends," I mimicked her. "What's in it for me?"

"You won't have the deaths of thousands on your head if we fail without you," she offered.

"…Fine, whatever. Sure, I'll help. What are we up against?"

"The Six Demons as they're called, the Oracion Seis, a Dark Guild, part of the Balam Alliance. Four of the strongest guilds have sent mages to form the Light Alliance to combat them, and as you can see…"

"You've _totally_ succeeded, right?" I asked sarcastically. "But what are they doing here? Shouldn't they be…I don't know, destroying a town or something?"

"Apparently, they're after something called Nirvana; an extremely powerful magic that bends light into darkness and vice versa. I suspect they plan to use it to do much more than destroy a single town. This is a threat to guilds and mages the world over."

I nodded, soon seeing a bright blue glow above the trees, and when we came out to a clearing with a large crystal at the center, Jellal was standing there, a blank expression on his face. He turned to us, giving a pained look.

"You two…can you…tell me who I am?" his voice was soft and sincere.

Erza looked shocked, while I was unconvinced. "W-what?" she questioned. "You don't…"

Jellal put a hand to his face, a tear running down his visible eye. "I'm not sure what it is…but everything is just blank. There's only one thing that woke me up. Tell me…who is Erza…and why does their name sound so familiar?"

Erza herself stepped forward. "Jellal…I'm Erza. We were best friends," she explained, to which he smiled. "You protected me as a child, but…"

"You caused the deaths of countless family and friends," I finished for her, a lightning bolt forming in my hand. "Including Simon."

Erza turned to me. "How do you know about…" she trailed off, turning back to Jellal.

This made him even more pained as a wall of magic runes began to line the glowing crystal. "What is that?" I demanded.

"It's a…destruction spell," he said blankly.

I clenched my fists. "Tch, it's just like a mass-murderer to forget who he kills…but to forget that he even killed at all…is unforgivable!" I yelled, dashing forward at him, about to run him through with only my fist, but I stopped right in front of him, seeing a magic circle form in front of his chest.

He stared at me with a single tear running down his eye. "You're right…it's unforgivable…I'll save you the trouble. I've cast the same spell on myself…for the things I've done in the past."

Erza rushed past me, prepared to catch the blue-haired demon as he fell from the pain. "Wait! No, you have to live!" she cried. "You have to _live_ for everyone who you've hurt; you have to amend. Dying is the coward's way out! Don't you dare die now!" she yelled, her voice breaking several times as she herself shed tears.

"My, my…what a pitiful sight," Brain's voice came from behind us. As we all turned, he used his magic to fling Erza and I away from Jellal and the crystal. "An S-class mage and a former Council member sharing such a sappy, uneducated moment. But fear not; your worst nightmares have yet to come true," he said as he waved his staff. The runes surrounding the crystal disappeared, as did the ones on Jellal himself. "My boy, don't you remember that _I_ taught you that spell?"

"W-what?!"Jellal demanded, weak now from casting the spells and having one drain the life away from him. "You can't-"

"Now behold, children, Nirvana at phase two!"


	3. 3 Midnight

The area began to crumble around us as the ground literally starting rising from…well the ground. Soon, a tower appeared where the crystal was, and after that, more buildings began popping up, rising high into the air and bringing us along with it. "Crap! We need to get out of here! This is where Nirvana will be at its strongest!" I yelled to Erza, quickly grabbing Jellal and throwing him over my shoulder.

We all sprinted away, but soon we were stopped by Cobra. "Ah, ah, ah…where do you think you're going?"

Erza readied her blade. "It won't be like last time," she vowed.

"We'll see, Titania," he said simply before the two engaged.

I ran past them, only briefly before Natsu and Happy rushed past me, colliding with Cobra and taking him and his snake high into the sky to continue their battle. Erza soon caught up and we kept running, all the way to the edge of the new lost city. As we looked off the side, we saw that it was now a walking city, being carried by six massive legs. I would almost feel the magical energy being kept in them, all the way from here.

I dropped Jellal and caught my breath. Erza didn't waste any time though. "How do you know about Simon?" she demanded. "And how is he your family?"

I scratched the back of my head. "I could ask you the same thing," I retorted. "But Simon was the closest thing to brother I had, and his sister the closest thing I had to one as well; hell, I gave her my family's sword before I left…" I trailed off.

"I was Simon's friend after he was taken, and he died protecting me," she returned the explanation, soon transitioning into a quieter voice. "It was my weakness that killed him…"

Jellal was out cold by this point, but I still had to fight every one of my muscles not to kill him. "…He killed Simon. It hurt Kagura…I'll never forgive him," I vowed. "I've spent my days trying to find him; I knew that he was alive, somewhere, and I was going to be the one to finally end it; to set things right."

"…You can't kill him," Erza said back finally. "He needs to repent for his sins, all of the things he's done, all of them can be forgiven somehow," she insisted. "It just needs time."

"Time has only made the scar grow more painful!" I retorted. "…But…I suppose…we could use his help _for now_ ," I made that part very clear. "After this is over, I'm going to…going to…" I trailed off, not wanting to say any more. "A-Anyway, our first order of business should be to stop this thing."

Erza didn't respond, but I continued anyway.

"We only have a few guys left to beat, right? I'm sure the others are faring well. There' Cobra and Brain and-" I was interrupted by a mighty roar that could be heard from the sky. I looked and saw both Natsu and Cobra falling. "…and there goes Cobra. Who's left? There's Brain and…" I waited for Erza to respond, but she didn't. I turned to her. "Hey, Erza, are you even listening?" I asked, stepping toward her.

I had to jump back though, when she materialized and swiped at me with a sword, a very menacing look in her eyes. "You're…going to kill him…aren't you?" she demanded. "You're going to try and hurt…Jellal…?"

I raised my hands up. "Whoa, hey, that's not what we should be focusing on right now, Erza," She lowered her head and when she raised it back up, her bangs shrouded her eyes in darkness, leaving only two red circles; evil. "Erza…you haven't been affected by Nirvana, have you?"

She didn't respond, only materialized another sword, raising both in an offensive stance. I frowned.

"An S-class being so easily manipulated. What a joke!" I yelled, dashing toward her, my fists imbued with white lightning as I brought one of them around in an uppercut, punching straight through her swords which she raised to block the attack. She stepped back slightly, but then burst forward and head-butted me backward, making several attempts for my chest to meet the end of her newly-formed swords, but I managed to back away quickly enough. "Erza, if you don't stop this soon, then I'll have to-"

"You'll what?! You'll kill me, just like you'll kill him!" she yelled as she Requipped into her Lightning Empress armor. "This armor gives me an advantage over your lightning magic, devil."

"Tch, we'll see about that, you wannabe S-class!" I took a deep breath. "Thunder Devil's Rage!" I yelled as a wide spread of thunderclouds erupted from my mouth and over the area in front of me, enveloping Erza.

I dashed to the side as it cleared and came up from behind her, surprised that my attack only did minute damage to her. She whirled around towards me and swatted me with her double-edged spear. I ignored the sting it made on my face and tackled her into the air, keeping myself aloft on a thundercloud.

As she began plummeting, she turned into the air and landed on her feet, pointing her spear up at me and Requipping again. "Black Wing Armor," she said simply before bursting up into the air after, coming up and swinging downward so fast that I couldn't dodge it. The force of the blow alone was enough to send me plummeting, but I'll be damned if I don't go down with a fight. "Thunder Devil's Flash!" I yelled, holding my hand out and sending a bolt of electricity her way. Erza Requipped again back to her Lightning Empress armor and absorbed the blast, soon sending it back at me with ten times more power, something which made me grin before opening my mouth.

The bolt came to me spread in an arc, but with a little unconscious persuasion, it soon arced back into my mouth, and when all was said and done, I wiped my mouth from the meal. "Alright, you wannabe," I said as she landed. "I think it's time we stopped playing around!"

I became one with the storm as I came up behind her too fast for the eye, knocking her back in an explosion of lightning. As she recovered, I held my hand out. "Thunder Devil's Azazel Greatsword," I said as the lightning around me condensed into a small area, which then expanded in a brilliant flash of white light. When the light faded, I was holding a sword almost as long as my body, a greatsword with black markings lining its blade, the markings expanding into and across my arm and then into my chest, which was now exposed from my shirt having been destroyed just from casting the spell to summon the blade.

I plunged it into the ground, waiting for Erza to respond. She simply scoffed and Requipped again, this time into a black, spikey, and overall jagged piece of armor, holding a sword equally long and twice as wide as mine, making it more of a club than anything else to me. She plunged the blade into the ground as I did. "This is my Purgatory Armor. Only one person was ever able to survive it."

"Well, get ready to add to that number," I said cockily as I raised my blade up to her. We dashed at each other and clashed blades, the force of the impact alone enough to create a large crater where we stood. As we clashed, I pushed Erza back until she was on her knees. "Where you belong…" I said menacingly, causing her eyes to grow wider. "If this is supposed to be Fairy Tail's finest…then it can rot in the dust for all I care…"

While I expected the Knight to keel over and pass out or something, she continued pushing, soon managing to push back into a neutral position. "No…" she struggled out. "I won't let you bad mouth Fairy Tail…" she glared at me with eyes that looked a whole lot better than those red devil's eyes. "Fairy Tail won't back down!" she yelled as she forced my blade up over my head and bringing a strong knee into my stomach and knocking me back. We dashed toward each other again, but we were prevented from continuing our battle.

A goth kid appeared between us and sending us both flying back. "How rude of you, Father," he muttered to us. "You took away my fun…there's only three left."

"Midnight," Erza said, instantly waking up from her turning. "You're…awake…"

"Indeed, little girl. No come and let us have fun."

"Meteor!" a yell was heard from behind me, and when I looked back, I only saw a golden flash of light whiz past me and collide with Midnight, shocking him mildly. "Erza, leave him to me," Jellal said as he readied himself.

"Make that four, but…you don't look very fun. I'll end you quickly," the goth said monotonously.

The fight didn't last very long; Jellal could barely land a hit and was soon defeated. Midnight turned to Erza. "Damn, if only he hadn't used that self-destruction spell, this guy would've been a cakewalk…" she muttered, eyeing for me to attack now while his back was turned.

I nodded, willing the greatsword away to preserve what magic power I had left. I took it a deep breath. "Thunder Devil's Rage!" I yelled sending the blast straight at Midnight.

He quickly turned to me, and without moving another inch, bent the beam around him and at Erza, who barely had time to dodge. I rushed to her side, but she swatted me away. "What the hell was that? I'm on your side again, moron!"

"That wasn't me," I retorted. "I think that was _his_ magic," I said, gesturing to Midnight, who still looked bored, digging in his ear a bit while waiting for us to get up. Erza nodded and stood along with me. "Alright, we should take this guy together."

Titania nodded. "You rush him; I'll take him from the other direction with my Heaven's Wheel armor," she said, to which I nodded, and charged up my fists.

"A direct approach? Interesting…" the goth said boredly as I rushed him, punching and kicking at him wildly, hoping for at least one attack to hit, but every time I seemed to get close, it was like the place where Midnight's body should've been wasn't there, but instead a bit to the left or right, away from my fist.

Soon, I saw several dozen swords appearing behind Midnight, and then got up into his face. "Try and redirect it this time! Thunder Devil's Rage!" the blast came out once again in a brilliant flash of light. When all was said and done, I was standing before Midnight, who had been impaled several times, fallen to the ground.

I stepped back to Erza, breathing heavily, about to collapse form how much of the Devil Slayer magic I'd used in succession. I plopped onto the ground, barely able to sit up. Erza kneeled down. "Hey, are you alright?" she asked, examining the black markings that had grown to cover my entire chest and both of my arms and well on their way to my neck. "What are these markings?"

"If I…use my magic too much without letting up…I get these markings; the signal of a demon. If the demon overtakes me, that is to say if his markings cover my body, then…well I'm not quite sure what'll happen. I've never had the guts to find out," I admitted, falling onto my back. "But…thankfully, I think it's over."

"Oh, it's far from over, little children," his voice came from our right. I then saw Midnight walk toward us, not even having suffered a scratch. "In fact, we're just getting started."

"W-what? How?" I demanded, looking back over at the Midnight who was lying dead on the ground, but I soon saw the image flicker and then disappear.

"So that's what it is, illusion magic," Erza stated as she eyed the real Midnight, taking a step toward him.

"Illusion? You know, that really hurts. Illusions don't hurt people, but my magic is _very_ deadly," he promised as he waved his hand at Erza, causing her armor to distort and dent, soon beginning to crush her with her own armor before I eventually broke, leaving cuts and bruises along her body.

She quickly Requipped into her Purgatory armor, but the same thing happened there, only it took longer, which allowed for more punishment to be inflicted upon her. "No, stop!" I yelled, too weak now to stand up.

Midnight had a twisted grin on his face, relishing every moment of agony inflicted upon this woman. However, she quickly had enough, Requipping into an armor I hadn't seen.

"The Robe of Yuen," she said simply as Midnight contorted it to bind her. She didn't look fazed however, and quickly broke free of the clothes. "They have elastic properties, so you can't use them against me."

Midnight's eye twitched as he glanced up at the sky. "Well, that's too bad. It looks like the end for you," he said as he pointed at the sky, where the moon was directly overhead. When I looked back down, a magical aura surrounded him. "It's…Midnight…"

The aura expanded around the two of them, enveloping them. Then, everything collapsed into a singular point, revealing the two again. The magic then entered Erza's body, and then everything went wrong, cuts and scrapes appeared all over her body. She dropped her new spear and writhed in pain, holding her head as if it were about to split open. Midnight was watching with glee. I put my head to down, not wanting to watch the horrible sight.

"Come…and give in to darkness…"

Then suddenly, everything stopped, and silence was heard. I looked up to the scene where I saw Erza, alive and well, on the other side of Midnight, having just slashed straight through his illusion single-handedly and rendered him, the real Midnight, unconscious. "No…impossible…" he started as he fell to the ground.

"You're illusions were powerful," Erza admitted as she stood over him. "But my false eye prevents them from affecting me fully."

"No, but I…I am the strongest in Oracion Seis; unbeatable…I only…want to find a peaceful place to sleep; eternal slumber is my prayer," he whispered before falling into unconsciousness.

Erza walked over to Jellal and I, unharmed. "I thought…that he was killing you…" I muttered as she helped me to my feet.

"That was only an illusion. Fairy Tail mages wouldn't be so weak as to fall to the likes of him," she vowed, wrapping one of my arms around her shoulders as Jellal awoke. "Jellal, can you walk?"

He nodded slowly and stood, following us back to the center of the city, where I felt a strong magical presence brewing. "Be careful," I managed to stay, still weak.

Suddenly, the staff that Brain was usually holding was flying toward us. "Run away!" it yelled; somehow we weren't surprised that it could talk. " _He_ is coming," it cried. Jellal caught it as it floated away.

"Who? Who is coming?"

"Zero, Brain's evil alter ego. Oh god, he's gonna kill us all!" he cried before a green laser of sorts shot out of the darkness and pierced the skull dead on, destroying it quickly.

The monster himself walked toward us. "Good…that talking was getting on my nerves. I'll be off then," he said, walking past us into the night.

We watched him walk off for only a moment before the entire city shook violently. A brilliant light flashed from one of the sides, but thankfully, there was no "ka-boom" and soon we also saw a gigantic airship. Another moment passed when Erza suddenly cried out. "What?!" she demanded.

"What? What is it?" I asked.

"Sh," she ordered, all but dropping me. This time, I was barely able to keep myself standing. She nodded several times, and then got a cross expression on her face. Soon, she turned to me. "Alright, that was Zero, and he took out Natsu, Lucy, and Gray, but they're back up and ready to fight. I've been informed that Nirvana is heading towards Cait Shelter. They're already fired on it, but the blast thankfully missed because of the Cristina; the airship. We need to stop Nirvana immediately, but the only way to do that is to destroy the lacrima in the legs at exactly the same time," she said, when suddenly a map visualized itself in my mind. "Hibiki should have sent a map to you; you're helping us take this out. We have exactly twenty minutes.

I nodded. "What about Zero?" I asked.

" _I'll be waiting at one of the lacrima,_ " he said suddenly in my head. " _Be sure to choose which one you go to carefully._ "

I nodded. "Alright, let's go."

"It's already been decided who will take out which lacrima. Follow me. You two will take out number six, I'll take five."

I nodded. "What about the others?"

"They'll be unguarded. Natsu probably chose number one because Zero is there. He's always had a good nose."

"Natsu…" Jellal muttered. "Who is…?"

"He's the one who beat you at the Tower of Heaven," Erza explained before we headed off, Jellal lagging behind.

"Oh yes…Natsu…" he muttered, nearly inaudible as we continued forward.


	4. 4 Old Memories

It took us a couple and a few stairs downward, but we eventually met up with the others and then went our separate ways, with Natsu's group heading one way, and my group going another.

Soon, Jellal and I had to split off from Erza, and soon after that, once Erza was out of earshot, Jellal turned to me. "I need you to do me a favor," he said. "Go destroy the lacrima yourself."

"Why?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"I have to go help Natsu," he explained.

I frowned. "Oh? You're going to help him? You sure you're not just going to stab him in the back?" I accused, making him flinch.

"Look…I'm not sure what I did, and I'm sure you have every right to hate me for it, but I need you to trust me. Natsu needs this."

I hesitated, about to retort, but I couldn't with his voice lined with that much sincerity. I sighed. "Whatever, but after this whole Nirvana business is over with get ready to meet my fist. Got it?"

He nodded and walked off the opposite way. I turned back around, letting out a sigh. "Hmph, too bad I don't have enough…magic power left to destroy a pebble, let alone a lacrima," I mumbled as I trudged forward into a large room.

The timer in my head reached the ten minute mark, and I got time to sit and rest, the black markings having stopped expanding some time ago and were now regressing back down to my chest.

I groaned at the sight of the lacrima. "It's too big…no use…" I managed as I stood. "But I've still got to try, right? That's what she would want," I muttered.

"Mr. Inigo!" the high pitched voice came from the corridor as Wendy came up to the clearing and then to me. "Oh…thank goodness I got here in time. Here I'll restore your magic power," she said as she placed her hands on my chest. A bright and yet soft light formed around them, and soon I felt my strength begin to return. The runes on my body were quickly retracting themselves, until they were gone completely. When Wendy removed her hands, she collapsed onto me.

"Whoa, hey…are you okay?" I asked as I helped her back onto her feet.

"Yes I'm fine," she assured me. "It's just that healing people takes a lot out of me, you know."

I nodded, standing up at the counter reach two minutes. I suddenly felt a tremendous magic energy surging to my right. "Must be Natsu…" I guessed, and I turned out to be right, but that didn't matter.

I took several deep breaths as the timer continued counting down in my head, soon reaching thirty seconds, and then ten, and then five. "Thunder Devil's…" Zero. "Rage!" I yelled as the beam exploded from my mouth toward the lacrima. As it impacted, a brilliant yellow light erupted from the destroyed lacrima and soon the entire structure started to shake. "We need to get out of here!" I ordered as I picked Wendy up, carrying her to the surface.

I looked around, seeing that Nirvana was falling. We soon caught up with the others, jumping straight off the thing and landing just a few short miles away from Cait Shelter. As we arrived, Wendy had a touch reunion as well as a goodbye, and then, out of nowhere, the Rune Knights appeared, immediately pointing at Jellal. "We've come to place this man under arrest," they exclaimed.

All of us tensed. I by no means thought of Jellal as an ally and definitely not someone worth fighting for, but that didn't stop me from being on edge. These Rune Knights were the real deal of mages. They could-

"Like hell you will!" Natsu yelled as he dove into their ranks, his magic spewing behind and around him into the knights. The others soon joined in; everyone except Erza and Wendy. Erza actually stopped it.

"Stop! Everyone, Stop!" she yelled, causing everyone to halt what they were doing. Natsu stormed up to her.

"There's no way in hell that we're gonna let them take an ally! Not on my li-" Erza bashed him across the head.

"That's the idea," she stated simply as she turned back to the others, with Jellal starting to go to the Rune Knights willingly. "Go ahead and take him," she said as they put him in cuffs. He began to walk off, but then he stopped, and turned back around.

"Oh yeah…Scarlet…Erza Scarlet, after your hair, right?" he shot a smile at her before he turned back around. At this, Erza burst into tears and shot up a symbol, her pointer finger and thumb extended, and her palm facing inward; the Fairy Tail's symbol.

Seeing it brought up memories of a time I had forgotten.

 _Whoosh…_

" _Where are you going, Inigo?" the little Kagura questioned as I slung my backpack across my back._

" _I'm off on an adventure. I'm going to find whoever hurt us, and stop them from hurting anyone else," I promised, kneeling down a bit, though I didn't have to much; at this point, Kagura was about twelve, while I was fourteen or fifteen; I can't remember which._

" _When will you be back?"_

 _I shrugged. "Not sure, and while I'm gone, the town and our house will be vulnerable, so I'll need you to stay on your toes, and get really strong for me. To protect it while I'm gone, alright?"_

" _Got it," she said confidently. I reached behind my back and unhooked my sword in its sheathe handing it to her._

" _By only the most dire of circumstances should you use this unsheathed, understood?" I asked._

" _But…Inigo, that's your family's sword," she reminded me._

 _I chuckled. "I know, but it would be better off in your hands; hands far more capable than mine" I said as I stood straighter, and turning away. "Use it to protect; not to destroy. Use it as my legacy, which I entrust to you, Kagura Mikazuchi."_

" _Well, then I'll always be watching over you!" she yelled after me. When I turned around, I saw her extending her pointer finger and thumb in a triumphant manner. "Always; no matter how far away you are!"_

" _You're not a part of Fairy Tail," I stated._

" _So?"_

" _That's a Fairy Tail symbol, Kagura," I reminded her._

" _It can be used for anyone!" she retorted as I waved her off._

 _That was the last time I've spoken to her_.

I chuckled, watching them take away Jellal, and the others seeing him off, reminding him that he'll always be protected.

…And then…

I was surrounded by the Fairy Tail mages, including that of the new member, Wendy Marvell.

"Yeah? What?"

"You wanna join our guild?" Natsu asked.

"You're so blunt about it!" I exclaimed. I took a deep breath. "Sorry, but I've got other commitments."

"Aw come on, you lazy bum; make some friends, will ya?" Natsu wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

"Whatever it is you have to do; it'll be easier with all of our guildmates by your side," Gray added.

"You were looking for Jellal and you found him, so now what?" Erza questioned. "You're just going to wander aimlessly for your whole life? Forever without a comrade?"

The smile I made was cracked and dry. "Yeah, I guess I will; thus is the life of a demon. Forever hunting other demons."

The five looked at each other, and then turned back to me, saying the one thing that made me snap. "Well, we've got a She-Devil back at the guild who made friends. Wanna meet her?" Natsu offered.

I struggled to find the words to combat that, soon realizing that I didn't have any to do so, slumping my shoulders and lowering my eyes in defeat. "Fine…I guess I'll join Fairy Tail…"

A train ride later and we were in front of a new building, one which seemed like home already.

Natsu kicked the door open. "Everyone! We're back!" he yelled to thunderous applause. "And we got two new guildmates out of it too!"

I stuffed my hands in my pockets as I followed them inside. Gray and Lucy took us to the back, where a small bar was held. There, I was an old man who I was unfamiliar with and…her…

We locked eyes for only a brief moment before we both recognized each other. "…Oh…it's you…" I said, seemingly uninterested.

"And why have you come crawling into our guild, nakama?" Mirajane Strauss questioned, twirling a knife in her hands, as I had seen her do so many times before.

I turned around and crossed my arms. "Don't call me that."

The group gathered there looked from me to her several times. "Do they…have some bad blood between them or something?" Lucy asked, to which Gray shrugged.

It was then that Elfman decided to show up, seeing my face and immediately charging at me, grabbing the collar of my shirt and lifting me up to his face. "You've got some nerve showing up here now, you little traitor!"

I wrestled free of his grasp. "Oh, if it isn't the little Elf-boy. You sure have grown from the weak little thing you were before!"

"Elfman!" the old man snapped. "Leave this young man alone and go back to your business!" With a few grumbles from him, he left, letting me breathe a sigh of relief. "Now, young man in question, what brings you tour guild?"

"Your little band from the Light Alliance want me to join, but I see now that it was a mistake to come here," I said harshly, turning my back on them.

"Hold it," the old man said tiredly, as if he had done this before. "Trust me, we've had more questionable recruits than you, my boy."

"This isn't about the guild, old man," I said as I stormed out.

I found a nice place outside of town, by a tree on a hill. I overlooked the town, becoming angry at the memories welling up inside me.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps. "You mind telling me what was up back there?" Gray's voice came into my ears.

"Go away."

"Look man, I may not know you very well, but you seem alright. Plus, you helped us out a lot with the Oracion Seis back there. We could really use you in the guild."

"I said go away."

He only sat down next to me. "And what if I don't?"

I glared at him. "…Don't you have to pry someone else?"

"Not until four."

He stared at me for a minute, and the sheer stupidity of the statement made me chuckle. "…Alright, fine…but only this once, got it?" he nodded. "So…has the She-Devil told you about her younger sister?"

"Lisanna? Yeah. We know the story."

"Well…I could've stopped the story. I was there; I'd been helping them on their mission, and I got close with Lisanna. When…the Elf-boy tried to do the Take-Over, I could've stopped him. Hell, if I put everything into it, I probably could've stopped the monster beforehand, but I didn't and Lisanna tried to snap him out of it. Instead I…" my voice caught in my throat. "I…I ran away…from the monster."

"You what?"

"I…came back just as Elfman hit Lisanna, and only then did I attack, my heart aching in rage and…" I stopped, letting the rest tell itself. "…I let her die…"

Gray put a hand on my shoulder. "And let me guess…it hurts more now than it did back then, right?"

"Y-yeah…" I agreed.

"…You're not the only one who's had a hard life, so get up and get over it. Mirajane has, I know that much," he said before walking away.

A while later, I stood, my tears wiped away. I was ready to face the past, at least I thought I was. I entered the guild hall once again, thankfully not drawing the attention of anyone as I walked up to the two again. The old man eyed me.

My head was down and my shoulders drooped. I really didn't want to do this, but it felt like the right thing to do. I lifted my head and turned to Mirajane. "I'm…sorry about earlier…"

She shot me a cold glance before she turned away. "For which time?"

"…Both…" I muttered.

"Humph," she scoffed as she walked away. I sighed; so much for getting over it, right Gray?

"Ignore her," the old man said. "My name is Makarov. And you are?"

"Inigo Asher. I'd…be honored to join your guild."

"Well, consider yourself part of the family then," he shot a grin, one of those goofy grins you couldn't help but smile at. He then pulled out a little stamp. "Now then, where would you like it? And what color do you want it?"

I chose to have mine be a light gray, and on the back of my right hand. Whenever I make their symbol, I want people to see that I'm part of Fairy Tail.


	5. 5 Edolas

In the weeks after I joined, I delved headlong into Fairy Tail's library, spending the least amount of time I could around the She-Devil as I could. Mostly, as you may have noticed, I wanted to rid myself of the problem of my stigma debilitating my magic usage. Soon, I had skimmed through every book relating to magic runes and found absolutely…

I lopped the book closed. "Nothing…" I moaned. "Maybe that's it then…"

A certain blue-haired mage peeked over at what I was doing. "Magic runes? You're a Devil Slayer wizard; why do you need to know about runes?" Levy McGarden asked.

"Well, when I use my magic too much, markings appear on my body, and when they overtake it, then I don't know what happens, but…I really don't want to find out…" I drooped my shoulders.

"Well…Devil Slayer magic is a Lost Magic, so I doubt there'd be any books on it. If you can't find a spell on dispelling your markings, then you could always make one."

"I can do that?"

"Sure; how do you think magic spells came to be? Anyway, all you have to do is-"

And tha was the point when I stopped listening. I held my head. "Too many words…" I moaned.

Levy crossed her arms. "Well, if you don't want to create a spell, then just ask whoever taught you the magic."

That's always an idea, right? I nodded, and left the library, entering the guild hall, trying to think of who taught me my magic. For the life of me, I couldn't remember his name.

I was wracking my brain trying to remember this guy when a brawl erupted in the guild. I made my way to Makarov. "Hey, is this, uh…normal?"

She only laughed. "Of course! Magic is meant to be free; an expression of who we are. It's good to let it come out whenever you can," she spouted. I nodded, watching Natsu and Gray beat the crap out of each other. "Hey, do you know which way Rosemary Village is from here?"

"Once you go out of town, take a left and go straight until you get there," Mirajane's voice was heard from behind me. I turned and saw her and Elfman standing with raincoats.

"Oh? And where are you going?" Makarov asked in a carefree manner. The Strauss siblings didn't respond. "It's that time of year again?"

Mirajane nodded. "What time of year?" I asked cautiously, instantly knowing I would regret it.

She gave me a steely gaze. "The day Lisanna died…was today…"

The guild seemed to grow quiet and dank, even though the brawl was happening just yards away.

"The night of my biggest mistake…" I mumbled before walking past them. Mirajane grabbed my shoulder.

"Don't you want to see her? You can…come with us," she said, forcing out the last part. I gently took her hand off of my shoulder.

"No…I bet she wouldn't want to see my mug anywhere near her grave," I said back, walking past them. "I have different commitments."

I took the directions that Mirajane gave me, but stopped at the intersection. I sighed, running my hand through my hair. "What am I doing?" I wondered to myself. "After all of these years, trying to find the words to apologize; I meet them and egg them on? What's wrong with me?" I asked myself as I turned back, clouds forming and beginning to pour rain.

I broke into a run, filled with energy at the storm until could see the town, but then it started to distort itself. "What the…?" I wondered as soon the entire town had a gigantic magic circle above it, and soon, the distortion started forming a vortex which sucked up the town. I ran toward it, but by the time I got close, it was all gone. I dropped to my knees, exhausted from the run, when I saw…him…

"Jellal!" I yelled, bursting toward him, and grabbing him by his new cloak. "You bastard! I knew you would spell evil! I knew you couldn't resist doing something that-"

"I'm not Jellal," the man said, causing me to stop. "I…know of him, but I'm not him, despite the likeness."

I dropped him, still extremely suspicious. "If you're not Jellal, then who are you?" I asked, hoping to trip him up on his façade.

"Well…my name is Jellal, but in Earthland, I'm known as Mystogan; an S-class Fairy Tail Mage," he said, revealing his mark. He eyed my own mark. "…It's good to see that at least one of us made it out of Anima."

"What's Anima?"

"Anima is a magic portal from a separate world known as Edolas."

"Edolas?"

Mystogan nodded. "The three Dragon Slayers should have made it through without much effort, and are probably very confused right now. I'll need your help. There is a very powerful anti-magic government that has banned guilds and magic other than their military, and it needs to be taken down to save Fairy Tail."

I nodded, following him into the place where Fairy Tail once stood. "And how is it that you know this?"

"Because…I'm from Edolas myself…I came here at a young age, and have been trying to stop Anima as much as I could, but it seemed this time the portal was too large for me to stop it."

"Well…what happens to Fairy Tail if this government has their way?"

"My guess…Fairy Tail…no…all of Fiore will be at risk. Edolas is lacking magic power, and they're going to use Anima to suck the magic out of Earthland."

"Alright…how do we stop it?" I asked. Mystogan a hooked a small bag from his belt and tossed it to me.

"I'll be working behind the scenes. Eat one when you get across," he said as we came to a small portal. "I've already used my magic to keep you from turning to a lacrima like the others. I'll see if any other Fairy Tail members are scattered and I'll see if I can revive them to help. For now, find the Dragon Slayers and do what you can."

I nodded, stepping through the portal…only to start falling. I fell and fell until I soon came to a wide mountain range that seemed to be floating above the air. I saw a building with a familiar symbol. "Fairy Tail," I said to myself as I prepared to slow myself down using my magic, but just wouldn't come out. After a minute of struggling, I realized that it would never come out, and started freaking out, flailing around into the air until I met a painful landing right in front of the building.

In the small crater I made, I popped open the bag Mystogan gave me, pulled out a small ball and ate it, soon feeling my magic energy return.

"Oh…so that's what they're for…" I muttered as a crowd of faces fathered around the crater, curious as to who the idiot was who made a hole in their front yard. I brightened up when finally I saw one of the members that I knew. "Lucy!" I exclaimed, bursting up into a sitting position. "Good, there's at least one familiar face around here," I said as I stood, causing the others to back away.

I heard whispers from them. "Where's his battalion…?"

"Is he trying to trick us…?

"Did he fall off of his Legion…?"

I looked around. "Hey, come on guys; I know I'm new, but you don't have to shun me for it."

"New?" Lucy accused, pointing at me. "You betrayed us!"

"What? No I haven't! I mean…not that I know of…"

Lucy, looking quite menacing in a new leather outfit, along with two other guys (Jet and Droy I think their names were) approached, cracking their fists. I let my body tense, releasing a couple of streaks of harmless lightning around me to get them to back off.

They looked shocked at this. "Magic without a lacrima?" Lucy questioned. "Is this some kind of new defense thing by the Royal Army, eh?" she questioned.

I tried to think this through logically; Mystogan said that the King outlawed guilds, but maybe Edolas Fairy Tail survived and this was them; it would explain Lucy's change in personality at least, and their hostility toward me all of a sudden. "Lucy, do you know who I am?" I asked, just to make sure that she wasn't who I thought she was.

She looked disgusted. "Is that some kind of joke? You're Inigo Dirge, one of the Fairy Hunters, along with your little _girlfriend_ Erza Knightwalker."

My eyes widened. "Girlfriend!" I exclaimed, though I soon shook my head. "Listen, um…you are Lucy, right?" she nodded hesitantly. "I'm not from around here. I know I look like…whoever you know…but I'm my own person, one who's never met you, alright?"

Lucy looked about to respond, when I saw a face that I actually was familiar. "Hey! Ash! Good to see you made it out too!" Natsu's cheery voice came through as he burst through the crowd with Wendy following suite. "Man, did you see that big portal thing? That sure was weird."

I nodded. "Hey, you're…Natsu Dragneel, right? The Dragon Slayer?"

He nodded, though looked confused. "Hm? Yeah, who else would I be?"

I sighed. "No reason. It's just that…" I stopped, pulling Natsu aside to talk to him privately. "This isn't our world; we've been transported to Edolas; this isn't our Fairy Tail. We need to find our Fairy Tail and-" Natsu was pulled away from me and put into some kind of strange fetish of a torture technique.

"Hey, Natsu! Took you long enough to get back, you big moron! I've got some new things to show you!" Lucy cried happily as she twisted the man's arm, causing him to cry out in pain.

"Ah! Help! Lucy turned scary all of a sudden!" he cried in response. Happy walked up to the two.

"Natsu looks pretty weak right now, huh Ash? Lucy _is_ scary…"

"Yeah, she is…" I muttered before three more people pushed their way through. I chuckled a little at the sight of them. "Strange…to see all three Strauss siblings together again."

I saw Natsu inching his way toward them. "L…Lisanna…" he muttered as he stepped toward the, no doubt freaking them out, even Elfman, who should've been furious. "You're…alive!"

I bonked hm on the back of the head. "Weren't you listening?" I asked. "This isn't our Fairy Tail; this is the Edolas version of it! I'm sure there's a you here too!"

"What are you doing back here?" Lisanna demanded, holding her older sister protectively. I noticed a distinct lack of a right eye on Mirajane, with it instead being covered by a cloth.. "And why is Natsu…" she trailed off.

I sighed. "So I hurt you in this world too, huh?" I grabbed Natsu by the scarf. "Come on boy; we're out of here," He let himself be dragged through the crowd.

We were a good fifteen feet away when everyone gasped. When I looked back they were pointing up at the sky, some of them running back inside the guild. When I looked at where they were pointing, I saw they strange creatures with wings. It was like a winged bull if it got its face squished and it grew about ten times bigger than it should have. "It's the Edolas Royal Army! Everyone run for it!" Lucy yelled, herding everyone inside.

Wendy looked rather scared, and I couldn't really blame her given how hundreds of these beasts were floating down toward just us three. I was tempted to give Natsu and Wendy one of the snacks that Mystogan gave me, but if we got caught, I wouldn't want them confiscated from me, so I hid them in a place where I could easily reach, should we resort to violence.

As soon as one landed, I saw a figure jump off of one. "Erza…" I mumbled. I grimaced at the sight of her. "But…what is she wearing?"

The answer: basically an armored bikini. It was…combat effective? Gives her maneuverability? I don't know, but Erza noticed the look.

She raised a fancy new spear at me. "Keep looking and you won't be coming back with us."

I held my hand up. "Whoa, hey, calm down Erza. What are you doing here? What are these things?"

"You've never seen a Legion before? That's rich, considering you own one," she said, smacking my arm a little playfully. "As for what I'm doing here, I _was_ going to fight these two traitors, but it seems you beat me to it," she motioned to Natsu and Wendy.

I hesitated handing them over, but soon realized that this could be an opportunity. I bent down to Natsu's ear. "I'm going to try and learn what I can. I'll break you out then," I promised. "Hold out for me until then," I said before standing straighter and tossing him to her, with him seemingly unconscious. Wendy seemed to understand faster than Natsu; I didn't have to explain to her. "They're all yours. Now let's get out of here," I said as I tried to walk past.

Erza chuckled. "Leave? It seems _Fairy Tail_ is having a bit of a malfunction. Let's just end them now so we don't have to-"

"And risk these two getting away?" I spouted bullshit. "They're stronger than you think," I motioned to the dust and scrapes I got from the fall. "I mean look what they did to me."

She looked me up and down. "Destroyed your sword too…" she mumbled. "Fine, we'll have it your way. Let's get these two back, and then we'll get back to hunting Fairy Tail."

"Aye ma'am…" I gave up as I hopped on her Legion, going off to who knows where.


	6. 6 Found Out

We came to a gigantic palace of sorts, with multiple little mini-castles surrounding it, forming a bit of a town. We landed in one of the minis, and made our way to the main one. Erza ordered a couple of men to take the Dragon Slayers away, and then we waited on a balcony.

I hesitated saying what I did. "Hey…so…those two really packed a punch, and everything is pretty fuzzy. You're…kinda the only thing I remember. What is this place?" I tried to play stupid.

Erza sighed. "This is King Faust's Palace, and the base of operation of the Royal Army," she said curtly, closing her eyes and putting her head down.

I nodded, noticing two gigantic floating islands, one holding a huge lacrima. "And what are they?" I asked, motioning to them.

"Lacrima island, magical energy stolen using Anima, and the other was Extalia, home of the Exceeds. They've been plaguing us for too long; we're going to destroy the island with the lacrima."

"How?"

"Have you seriously forgotten? That's why we needed those two, remember? Their power is giving us the necessary energy to-"

"Knightwalker!" my own voice came from the entrance to the balcony. I eyed him for only a minute before taking Erza's shock and using it against her. I twisted her arm behind her back, slammed her spear out of her hands with my foot, and grabbing her around the neck with my other arm.

"W-What?"

"Quiet," I ordered. "I thought there'd be another version of me over here; didn't think I'd be one of the bad guys though."

"Bad guys?" my counterpart chuckled emptily. "Kid, you've got a long way to go if you think there are 'bad guys'," he said as he stepped into the light. He pointed to himself. "Inigo Dirge; captain of the third division of the royal army."

"Inigo Asher; Thunder Devil Slayer mage of the Fairy Tail guild," I retorted. "By the way _Knightwalker_ , your counterpart is a Fairy too," I said just to piss her off in my grip.

"Let the hellish woman go, and I _might_ let you live," Dirge warned as he pulled his sword from its scabbard, pure black in color and almost radiating with power. He stepped forward.

"Another step and this woman's gonna feel Zeus's wrath," I countered, releasing her neck and putting my hand, imbued with white lightning, very close to her face.

Dirge looked more annoyed than angry or worried. "…Fine, what is it that you want?"

"Nothing much. I'm curious about myself," I said, trying to get him distracted enough to buy time for…I don't know, a couple more guildmates to help me get the Dragon Slayers out. "You seem to know the Strauss's pretty well."

"I'd hope so; I took care of them while I was in Fairy Tail," he held up his hand, revealing a mark just like mine, only old and cracked. "I quit of course when guilds were banned. They didn't want me anyway; said I was too…malicious…idiots," he commented. "Serves the bitch right that I took her eye when we last met," My body tensed further. "Oh? Did I hit a soft spot for the Fairy?"

"Well…at least we can agree on hating the Strauss's," I chuckled, only half-lying.

"Good, it's good to see that you have some sense in you," Dirge smirked, stepping forward again, causing me to hold my hand closer to Knightwalker's face. "You wouldn't. A Fairy doesn't have the guts!" he said as he rushed forward, barely giving me time to jump backward, losing my hold on Erza.

The two stood facing me as I powered up my magic in front of them. "So it's true Earthland wizard hold magic within themselves," she commented as she changed her spear into a different head, this one of a redish tint.

"So just a question; are you gonna kill me or take me prisoner?"

Dirge shrugged. "Depends on my mood. Why? You're gonna die either way."

I smirked. "Just wondering if I should take the leap now!" I yelled as I broke into a run toward them. I ducked under Dirge's sword, which was imbued with lightning as well, and punched Knightwalker in the face as I ran past, veering left toward the edge and taking a leap. "You moron!" I heard behind me as I fell. I spread my arms and legs to slow myself down before forming a thundercloud below me, catching me.

I looked back up and grinned at my pseudo-victory over my counterpart.

However that victory was short lived, as both of them leapt off after me, forcing me to keep moving. When I looked back, I saw Dirge using the lightning from his sword to grapple on buildings; what kind of lightning was that, right?

When I looked forward down a large street, I just barely saw a tinge of a familiar scarlet color and grinned, reaching into my pocket and grabbing two of the snacks. Once I made it to them, I stopped very briefly. "Your counterpart is coming, eat up!" I yelled before the two caught up, forcing me to continue running. As Knightwalker was following, Scarlet stopped her, launching them into a brawl, leaving me with only one guy to deal with.

I stopped in the middle of the street, facing to the side where Dirge was perched on top of a building. "That's some fancy magic you got there; Devil Slayer. That dark of magic doesn't exactly fit a Fairy," he mocked, leaping toward me. I moved out of the way and dove after him, both of us plummeting into the street below.

Dirge knocked me away. I held a hand out. "Thunder Devil's Flash!" I yelled, sending a powerful bolt his way. He stopped and held his sword up. The sword ate up the spell, and all I ended up doing was push him back a couple feet before he charged at me again. "Thunder Devil's Ravan Katana!" I yelled as I made essentially a less powerful and smaller, but faster, version of the blade I used on Erza Scarlet.

I dashed toward him and clashed blades, though he soon grabbed me by the hair and threw me over his head into the street. As I stood, he pointed his sword at me. "Susanoo's Breath!" he yelled as a massive beam of energy came from the tip of the blade. I stood, taking a quick breath.

"Thunder Devil's Rage!" I yelled back, sending an equally massive and powerful beam his way, the two colliding in a shower of lightning that struck the surrounding area. As ran toward each other once again, pummeling each other with our magic until we both were forced back.

I wiped my mouth of a little bit of blood. "I don't have time for this!" I yelled, jumping into the air and forming a thundercloud below me and rising into the air.

"Not so fast, Cloud Nine!" he yelled after me, using his grappling hook-lightning to latch onto my foot, following me.

I went outside the city, hoping to lose him there and then return, but he just wouldn't let go, no matter how much I yanked on his chain so to speak.

I even saw the Fairy Tail building again. I landed there, slamming my counterpart in front of the building as I charged him. "A little help!" I yelled inside, causing a crowd to gather around us, holding conventional weapons like clubs and stuff. We separated, and as I looked, I saw Edolas Fairy Tail becoming confused.

"There are _two_ Inigo's?"

"Which one is good and which is bad?"

"How do we know they're not both bad?"

"Then why are they fighting?"

I pointed at Dirge. "He's with the royal army! I'm on your side!" I yelled as I charge him again, clashing blades for a third time. I was slowly gaining the upper hand when a rock was chucked at my back. I separated from Dirge and started blocking more rocks and other thrown weapons that the Fairy Tail mages were using against us. I locked eyes with Dirge.

"You're a moron," he said. "On three," he said, opting to break out of Fairy Tail together.

"Screw that! I'm out of here!" I said as I left him on a cloud, racing back toward the city. Once I got there, I found that most of it was destroyed in the fighting between Scarlet and Knightwalker, though I soon also found out who won. "Thunder Devil's Flash!" I yelled, making the bolt land dead center on her back, shooting her forward as she stood over her defeated opponent. I landed. "Damn, never thought Scarlet would lose…"

Knightwalker stood and held her hands out in protest. "Wait! Wait, it's not what you think!" she exclaimed. "Inigo, I don't want to fight you again."

"Oh yeah? It looks pretty clear to me," I said as I pointed at her. She ripped a piece of her armor off, the shoulder pad, revealing the mark; the Fairy Tail's symbol.

"I Requipped into her armor. Gray got the Dragon Slayers out and now we need to stop them from using their power on our Fairy Tail. I figured tricking them would be the easiest," I slowly relaxed upon realizing the plan. I nodded. "Can you make a copy of your counterpart's sword?"

I shrugged. "Maybe. Hang on," I said as I willed the blade to change shape, trying to remember what exactly it looked like. Soon, I got the desired shape at least, and the color wasn't that difficult after that.

"What happened with your counterpart? Where is he?"

"I left Dirge with Edolas Fairy Tail. Hopefully they can handle it."

"And they trust you?"

"Not a chance in hell."

"Well…actually, I've changed the plan. Do you think that you can convince them to trust you?"

"I'm not sure. Why? What's the plan?"

"Now…I think that we're going to need more manpower. Natsu, Gray, Wendy, and I can probably handle their leaders, but we'll need people to handle the grunts. Can you get Fairy Tail to come and help with that?"

"I…I don't know; they seem pretty spooked of this royal army. I'll see what I can do, but don't count on anything yet," I said as I willed the sword away to conserve magic power. Scarlet nodded. "Alright then, I'll be off."


	7. 7 Nakama

I made another thundercloud and headed back the way I came, finding Edolas Fairy Tail still outside the guild, but instead of fighting Dirge as I had hoped, they were bandaging the wounded. They all looked too shaken to notice me as I landed, but when I did, they snapped out of their daze.

"Oh man, why am I doing this? I don't want to do this…" I mumbled to myself while rubbing my temples.

Edolas Lucy stormed up to me. "Back for more, eh?" she threatened, cracking her knuckles, though she stopped when she saw my sullen expression.

"Look…I'm not in the mood. I don't want to be here, quite honestly."

"What's with him…?" I heard Natsu's voice ask. When I glanced over to where it came from I saw this world's version of Natsu. "He looks scary…"

I sighed, opting just to get this over with. "My friend, Erza Scarlet, asked me to talk to all of you…she said that she has a plan to defeat the royal army and that she needs your help."

"They're going to topple Faust by themselves?"

"No way. That's impossible…"

"Erza Scarlet? Sounds like a disguise by the Fairy Hunter if you ask me."

Lucy grabbed my shirt collar. "Give me one good reason why we should believe you."

"I don't have one…" I admitted. She let go and walked off, leaving me just standing there. I turned away. "I shouldn't have come. Scarlet…this was a big mistake."

I heard footsteps approach, and when I glanced over, I saw the Strauss sisters. "Don't come near me!" I snapped as they got closer, causing them to stop and flinch. "Don't…just…" a couple of tears ran down my face. "…It's hard enough to see you two together again…"

I reached up and felt my eyes, soon finding the tears and wiping them away. "I…" I didn't know what to say. I felt a hand on my shoulder; Lisanna.

"I…don't think the me from your world would hate you…so I won't either…" she mumbled.

I turned to her, an even more sullen expression on her face. "But…the you from my world is-"

I was interrupted by a large crashing sound from the sky. I quickly turned and looked. The floating island with a giant lacrima of Earthland Fairy Tail has been punctured by a long chain that had been fired from the royal palace. Soon, the island began moving towards Extalia. "Crap! Not good!" I said as I jumped onto a thundercloud.

"You can't seriously be thinking of stopping that thing!" Lisanna yelled at me.

"I have to try! If I don't, then all of Fairy Tail will be destroyed! Then how will I make it up to Mirajane?! I have to save them, even if it kills me!" I yelled, shooting high into the air and towards Extalia.

As I flew through the air I gathered up the clouds I passed, forcing them to follow me. When I stopped, I sucked them up into a small area and made them start storming, allowing me to eat them and gain more power. I began building up my magical power.

"Devil Slayer Secret Art: Unholy Piercing Charge. Thunderbird's Dive!" I screamed as I shot forward toward the island.

I dove at speeds of lightning, colliding with the island fists fist, slamming against it and trying desperately to halt it. Soon, as the Exceed saw my efforts, they joined in my struggle, pushing with all of their magic power to push the island back and protect their home. Then, Natsu, Gray, Wendy, Erza, a lone Legion, and someone I didn't recognize joined too, aiding greatly. "Keep going!"

"Don't let it hit Extalia!"

"For the Queen!"

"Give it everything you've got!" Natsu yelled. "For Fairy Tail!"

My felt my magic power began to dry up. I didn't dare look to see how far the runes have spread, but I didn't care. "I'll be damned if I'm giving up after coming this far!" I yelled.

Eventually, after everyone has put it everything, the island stopped and started to be pushed back, soon becoming yards away from Extalia, and then even more so, before the weight was suddenly lifted.

The island was shot away, and everyone was left stumbling over their own two feet. At that point, my magic power had been drained significantly. Thankfully, I was caught on the Legion. My entire body ached as I lay on my back. I let out a sigh. "See…this is why I never joined a guild…to much commitment," I joked, causing everyone to chuckle as a voice was heard overheard.

"Sorry it took so long," Mystogan said from above us. "But I finally found a remnant of Anima big enough to send Magnolia back to Earthland. Things will go back to the way it was."

I breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "Thank goodness."

A muscular Exceed flew up to Mystogan. "My prince…" he muttered.

"Thank you, Lily. For saving my life as a child…it was an honor to save your homeland."

The Exceed starting cheering, and I was starting to relax a little…before Lily got a magic beam shot through him. Silence fell as it happened; only Mystogan's scream to the muscular Exceed was heard.

"Hahahaha! How pathetic for a lowly Exceed!" a voice was heard from below. "My _son_ …"

"Faust!" Mystogan called. "Your Anima plan has failed; it's over!"

"You fool! It's never over! I can restart to Anima plan over and over!" he said as the smoke cleared down below, revealing a gigantic metal dragon.

"The Dorma Anim; I didn't think it was finished," Mystogan muttered. Not only that, but the Edolas Royal Army was rushing up to meet us as well.

"Turn _all_ of the Exceed into lacrima! Make them our permanent magical power source!" Faust yelled as our Legion was shot down.

"Damn!" I cried as we all fell out of the sky. I managed to make a small cloud, and saved the Fairy Tail members, but the Exceed were quickly being shot out of the sky as lacrima. Knightwalker's group broke off as Scarlet engaged her, somehow able to grab onto one of their Legion's reins to fight, while the rest of the royal army landed and surrounded us. Meanwhile, the three Dragon Slayers managed to make it over to the Dorma Anim and engage it, while Mystogan was shot out of the sky.

Dirge approached us as we stood. "This will be your last battle, Black Fairy."

"We'll just have to see, Fairy Betrayer!" I yelled, dashing into him and starting the battle. "Thunder Devil's Flash!

"Susanoo's Breath!

"Thunder Devil's Rage!"

"Jupiter's Will!"

"Jikininki's Bolt!"

We both flung all of the spells we knew and more, scattering the army as we did from the force of the blows, but neither of us would give an inch, both of us eating the other's attacks.

Soon realizing that magic attacks of my kind wouldn't work, I just made Azazel Greatsword and bashed Dirge's blade out of his hands, engaging him in a fist fight. We bashed each other until I was caught off guard by a stray Legion ramming into me, knocking me into Gray. I fell to the ground , my forehead bleeding to debris, struggling to stand. "Damn…if something doesn't change, then we're all going to die…" Gray muttered.

"No…I won't let it happen…" I mumbled, taking a quick glimpse down to see my markings not that spread, probably from how much magic power I had consumed forcing it back. At least that was my guess. "Finally figured out the secret to making these things go away…" I muttered as I stood. We were surrounded by the royal army, Dirge having retrieved his sword and pointing it at us. Suddenly, as the Legions were about to charge us, a tree sprouted form the ground, and soon, the familiar battle cries came from the tree's doors. "It's Edolas Fairy Tail!" I yelled happily.

Edo-Lucy came to back us up. "We weren't about to let you Earthland Fairies have all of the fun sticking it the King! Let's beat these guys straight back into their pompous thrones!" she yelled, spurring the Edolas Fairy Tail members to engage the army for us.

Feeling a bit more revitalized, I faced Dirge. "Thunder Devil's Ravan Katana!" I yelled as I charged him one last time.

"Jupiter's Will!" he yelled, sending a zig-zagging bolt toward me, which I ate and sent straight back at him with Thunder Devil's Flash.

Soon though, one of his attacks caught me off guard, and he swung at me. I blocked it, but the impact and weakness combined made me fall to the ground several feet away.

I tried to stand, but I had nearly completely drained myself of power, and I stumbled back to the ground. Then, two familiar faces showed up. "Don't touch him you creep!" Lisanna yelled and she and her sister jumped in front of me.

"Get out of my way!" Dirge yelled as he forced them to either side. He turned to them. "Or so help me I'll take more than an eye this time!"

Mirajane shot a glare at Dirge. "I don't care anymore…just don't hurt him."

"You're a mouthy bitch; I'd forgotten. I'll have to wipe you off the face of the planet to give myself a good night's sleep," Dirge threatened as he reared his sword back.

"No!" I yelled, burst toward them, and put myself in front of Mirajane, taking the stab for her, right above and to the left of my heart, thankfully not puncturing it. Dirge looked shocked by this.

"You…protected them…I protected them? Why? I thought you hated the Strauss's as much as I do! That's why we're the same person, right?"

"You're right…I hate them…but only because I made my biggest mistake…and it only cost them and not me. I hate _her_ so much, but…she's my nakama…and I'm nothing like you!" I yelled as I gripped his sword, draining it off all of its magic energy, seemingly evaporating my runes.

The sword cracked as I pulled it out, and then shattered. I brought a powerful fist imbued with white lightning up into Dirge's face, knocking him back as I stood. A small thunderstorm formed around me in my rage.

"I'm nothing like you…and don't you ever forget it!" I yelled, forming the lightning into a single point in my palm, holding it up to Dirge's chest. "Secret Devil Slayer Art! White Rose: Thunderbird's Impact!" I yelled, releasing the energy and sending Dirge far off into the distance and putting most of the royal army out of commission, the rest being cleaned up soon after; either knocked unconscious or stripped of their magic weapons.

I plopped down, holding the wound that Dirge had inflicted on me to stop the blood as all three Strauss siblings rushed to my side, Elfman tending to my shoulder and the other two treating other wounds. "Um…" I started. "…You know, there're other people who need…help, you know?" I stuttered.

They didn't respond, just finished their work. I looked over and saw Gray chuckling at the situation I was in, though it soon ended when Elfman finished and left, leaving the two sisters. "Um…thank you," Mirajane said shyly. "I was…scared of you at first…"

"It's fine," I said. "Really, it is. I understand, but…I don't deserve it," I said, looking away.

"What do you mean?" Lisanna asked.

"I…killed you in my world. I don't deserve your kindness."

"Well…I may not know her all that well, but give the big sis form your world this. Maybe it'll help," she said, handing me a small video lacrima. "I made it after you left to help Extalia. Look, it doesn't matter what you did; it can be forgiven. Everything can be forgiven; you've shown us that."

I nodded, and smiled, having my spirits lifted a bit. Suddenly, I began to glow a soft yellow and soon my body was lifted up a bit off of the ground. "What is this?" I asked tiredly. I looked around and saw Gray be floated up, along with all of the Exceeds.

"Attention, people of Edolas," Mystogan's voice was heard from above. "All of the magic power is leaving Edolas. Times will be frightening for a while, but I promise you; we will push through," he said. I never took my eyes off of the Strauss sisters. "We will continue to move forward and evolve. We will become greater than we ever were with magic. I promise you that at least, as your new King…" his voice faded.

Perhaps…a part of me hoped Lisanna would come with us.

I landed on a dirt path along with the rest of the group that had fought in Edolas; Natsu, Gajeel, Wendy, Erza, and Gray. "Finally home…" I muttered, my eyes widening as I remembered what day it was, gripping the Edolas lacrima tightly as I burst standing.

"Where are you going?" Erza demanded.

"I'm late!" I yelled back as I ran toward Magnolia, the storm overhead giving me the energy to keep running despite my wounds.

I ran all the way to inside of the church, where Elfman and Mirajane were with an umbrella over the latter's head. I was panting as they watched me put my hands on my knees to recover, soon standing straight. I walked up to Mirajane, took her hand in my own and handed her the lacrima. "A gift…to my nakama…" I muttered, walking past her to the grave they were standing at. I kneeled down, my head down and my eyes closed, saying my last goodbyes to my very good friend. Lisanna's voice was heard from the video.

"Hey big sis, though…I guess you're not my big sis, are you? It's me, Lisanna, but I'm from Edolas, and you're from Earthland. It's this parallel world thing and, uh…a-anyway, I'm making this to ask you to, like, not totally hate Inigo, because I met him, and he's not that bad of a guy. When you were trapped in a giant lacrima, he did all he could to stop it from being destroyed, saying something about how if you died, he wouldn't be able to apologize or something," Lisanna said. I heard Elfman's and Mirajane's sobs as the video continued. "So…I don't have very long to make this, so I'll cut straight to the point. I don't know what he did to you…to me…but I know that he wants to make up for it however he can, so please just…give him a chance. For me?" she asked as the video sputtered out.

A couple more sobs were heard before Mirajane dove into me, crying into my shoulder. Elfman then picked us both up as he sobbed along with his sister.

"Whoa! Hey, come on guys! Ah! Watch the shoulder, would ya?! And the leg!" I cried for them to stop, soon giving up and letting them have their moment for emotion. Once they stopped and put me down. "Hey, yeah, this is all very touching and stuff, but, uh…I kinda need a place to stay. I've been sleeping in the guild library...mostly, so…"

They both looked at me, dried tears in their eyes. "This…wasn't just a ploy to get a free home, is it?"

"What? No, of course not!"

"Then we'd be happy to give you a roof over your head."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank you so mu-"

"But food'll be on your form now on, got it?" Elfman added.

"W…What?"

"As payment for the roof."

"But I…I brought you a lacrima of your sister!" I retorted.

They both shrugged and simply helped me to their home.


	8. 8 Party

"Unfortunately…we only have two beds," Mirajane said sullenly as we entered the more mansion than house structure.

"Alright," I said without paying attention. I motioned to one of the rooms. "How about this one?"

"That was…Lisanna's…" Elfman said carefully. I quickly took my hand off of the knob.

"Oh, uh…sorry."

"Anyways, since we only have two available beds, I suppose…"

"Mira, you can't actually be thinking…" Elfman looked shocked.

"What? What is she thinking?" I asked as my mind started to wander to…darker places, children.

"I am, little brother…Inigo; you'll have to sleep…on the couch!"

We both dropped to the ground, exasperated. I picked myself up to a sitting position. "Jeez, woman! Don't get my hopes up!"

Mirajane looked confused. "Hm…was I implying something?" she put a finger to her chin. "Oh well, boys will be boys I guess. I mean if you want to sleep with Elfman I'm not going to stop you, but-"

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! No Elfman, please! I'll take the couch!"

A couple a laughs at my expense later, and I was getting bandaged again. "So, nakama, you want to tell us what happened to you again?"

"Well…you may not believe this, but there's this other world called Edolas. They sucked up all of Magnolia is this magic spell called Anima because their magic supply was running low, and a couple mages and I had to heroically-"

"Get your ass kicked like a not-man!" Elfman snapped. "I mean, if I'd have been there I would've put it straight to those Edolas jerks!"

"Trust me…it was a warzone. I even met the Edolas version of Fairy Tail, and the three Strauss siblings from over there. See the 'me' from there was the enemy, so getting to know them was a little rough, but it seemed like all three of them were…" I trailed off, seeing their sullen expression.

"Three…" Elfman muttered, looking away.

Mirajane stood, a bright smile on her face. "Alright, how about I cook us up some dinner, huh?"

"Y…Yeah!" I agreed, shooting as big a smile as I could. Maybe it would be best _not_ to mention any version of Lisanna in the house.

"We've got to get you healthy again for the marathon next week!"

"Marathon?" I questioned.

"Oh course, man! The 24-hour Fairy Tail Annual Marathon! You are participating."

I shrugged. "Depends on what the reward is," I said back.

"No, you don't understand," Mirajane said. "Master Makarov made it mandatory for every active member of Fairy Tail to participate."

"But…b-but-"

"And if you choose not to, then you automatically get last place, and that means you get the master's _punishment_ ," Elfman added in an ominous voice. "Last year's punishment was so bad, I heard the guy wanted to quit the guild," he said as he shivered. "Gives me the creeps, what the Master has inside his head."

"I mean…you know he won't, like…make me run the race, right? I mean, I've got a bad leg."

"From what I've heard, magic'll be allowed this year, so you can use your lightning stuff, right?" Elfman offered.

I grimaced and hung my head. "I'm doomed form the start," I moaned.

The next day, on a single crutch, I made my way to the Fairy Tail building, slightly embarrassed that I was the only one who sustained any major injuries in the Edolas conflict.

"The Black Fairy…" I muttered to myself. "More like the Red Fairy…man, even the Salamander got off Scott-free other than what looks like a headband…" I muttered as I pushed doors open. All that morning I'd been wondering if anybody'd heard about Edolas from Team Natsu, but I guessed that they hadn't since we were all so dog tired afterwards.

I didn't think anybody would know…but boy was I wrong. I entered the building, and found confetti shoved in my face. "Welcome home!" everyone roared, even Team Natsu.

"What's this?" I wondered.

Cana Alberona nudged my arm. "It's a welcome home form that Edo-place you guys were off in," she said cheerily, tugging on my arm. "Come on, Mr. Black Fairy, have a drink!" she said, handing me a mug.

I offered a casual smile and gulped the thing down. Looking satisfied, Cana left to talk to Gray about something while I made my way back to the bar, where Makarov was sitting where he usually was. I sat next to him. "So who told you about Edolas?" I wondered, grabbing one of the available drinks next to me.

"Who else? Those noisy kids are nothing but a pain, especially when the guild is clicking off for the day."

"Natsu?"

"Natsu. Came barging right in and said 'Hey, everybody is gonna stay for a while and help us set up for a party! We got an injured comrade and he deserves a break, not to mention us too!' before forcing everyone to stay an extra three hours to set this thing up."

I shrugged. "Hey well, it looks pretty good," I said, looking over and seeing the Master's annoyed expression. "Come on, you've got to admit that he's got heart."

"Maybe a bit too much for his own good…but that doesn't really matter anymore. What's done is done, and hey, I don't have to pay for these drinks, so it's fine with me!" he cheered as he gulped down his second mug since I sat down.

I chuckled. "You have to pay for your own drinks in your guild?"

"Well if I wouldn't, then it wouldn't be fair, now would it?" I retorted, comedically turning away from me and sipping his mug. I stood once again and made my way over to where Cana, Gray, and Mirajane were sitting, with Gray in the middle of a story.

"Yeah see, and then Fairy Tail from Edolas came and started backing us up, and I was kicking ass, as usual, when suddenly-"

"This better not be about me," I warned. He gave me a sly grin.

"Anyway, so Ash's counterpart, Inigo Dirge, appeared out of nowhere and started cutting into us with his lightning sword. I managed to hold him off for a while-"

"You never engaged him," I reminded him.

"Would you let me finish?" he snapped, to which I chuckled at his immaturity. "Anyway, he cornered the two Strauss sisters from over there and was about to run them through, right? So, Ash literally runs into the sword and takes the hit for them and then…there was this big explosion from yours truly, and the day was saved by me. The end!"

"Uh…I think you got a few details wrong there, Mr. Bundled-Up," I teased him about his counterpart.

"That wasn't me you jerk!" he snapped. "Whatever, all the stuff about him was true."

"Including his heroic rescue of Mirajane?" Cana elbowed me lightly, making my cheeks go red. "Aw, that's cute!"

"Oh! Shut up, you drunkard!" I swatted her arm away and put my head on the table. She patted my shoulder playfully. I pounded my fist on the table. "If I beat you in a drinking contest, then you forget about the story, deal?" I challenged.

She looked surprised that I would challenge her, but soon smirked. "You may have guts, but that doesn't mean you have a good stomach!" she retorted, pulling two huge barrels of beer that already made me want to hurl.

"This…was a bad idea…wasn't it?" I asked.

"A very bad one," she agreed. "But you already challenged and I accepted; so that's that!"

I sighed. "Alright; let's do this!"

We went through the first barrel without much trouble, with both of us becoming just a little tipsy, my magic wearing off some of the alcohol. The second barrel went by much the same.

When I saw a third and fourth coming out, we were drawing a crowd. The third went by, and we were both wobbling in our chairs. Cana looked at the beer in her glass. "Is this stuff stronger than the normal stuff?" she asked, her words slurred together.

"I think- you know what I think? I think you're losin' your edge, drunkard," I challenged once again, my words also slurred.

She glared at me with glazed eyes. "You know…you're just a asking for trouble, sirree…" she mumbled as we gulped down another glass. "First person to fall over loses."

I nodded, nearly falling asleep just from that. We gulped down another two glasses, and when I saw the next one, I turned around behind me and threw up. Once it was all out, I turned back around and pointed at it over my shoulder. "I wouldn't touch that (burp) if you were me…It'll…overload your system, if ya know what I mean…"

"Whatever," Cana mumbled from her side.

"You know, this may be a shock to you, but your chances of winning this are less than (burp) less than a stratus cloud on a humid day," I said, pointing at her.

"Is that his thing when he's hammered, to make puns on his magic type?" I heard from the crowd, and I swore it was Natsu.

"Don't you judge me you dumb lizard!" I said to the Dragon Slayer, though I later found out that it was Jet and that I just really confused him.

Cana looked confused by my statement. "You mean like…like you mean fog?"

"Whoa man! Your IQ is like as big as a cumulonimbus cloud right now!" I mocked, expecting roars of laughter in my drunken state, but I only got chuckles from how ridiculous I was acting.

"Whatever, Cloud Nine, let's just finish this."

"Good, I was waiting to get charged," I said as we cheers'ed again, as we did with every glass.

"That one didn't even make sense!"

We both gulped it down and then sat staring at each other. I saw the world spinning and focused on her face, a bit too much actually. I started looking for particular pores, but soon that just messed up my vision even more. I scrunched up my nose.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" she wondered, feeling her face with her hands sloppily.

"No I mean, I just…like, uh…uh…" I never finished the sentence, falling backwards out of my chair and onto the ground, the guild then roaring up in cheers while I was passed out on the floor.

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hey guys, so the changes are in and...yeah, I never liked the arcs in a big clump like that anyway. But that's beside the point! Here's just a little light-heartedness before things god won the deep end with Tenrou Island...anyway, don't forget to leave a review for me to improve or whatever, and I hope you're looking forward to the next chapter!**


	9. 9 Fourth Time's The Charm

I woke up slowly and in a place I didn't think I would be. I was back on the couch of the Strauss home, with a bag of ice on my head because of the pounding headache that felt like it would make my head split open. I sat up a little and held my sore shoulder. "Oh man…what happened?" I asked, not remembering the previous night.

"Oh, there you are," Mirajane was sitting at the kitchen table a few meters away. "You challenged Cana to drinking contest and lost," she explained. "How are you feeling?"

"Like an idiot…" I moaned.

And so the week passed without much more stupidity on my part. Most of time I spent at the guild trying to walk again, but _sadly_ I wasn't able to recover for the 24-hour Endurance Road Race, and Makarov appeared to be in a good mood, so he just had me commentate with him, Mira, and the reporter named Jason who said "cool" way too much.

After that, a few months passed without a hitch, Fairy Tail's Ace, Gildarts Clive even came back in a, to be quite honest hilariously overbearing manner just because of how much Makarov had prepared specifically for this guy's return. He was cool though, so I didn't exactly mind it. But anyway, then something happened.

"Attention wizards of Fairy Tail!" Makarov called form the upper balcony. "It's that time of year again, the time when we assess how worthy you as guild members are to become S-class!" he called to thunderous applause, except from one person, the person I happened to be sitting across from. "That's right; the S-Class Promotion Trial is upon us, and this time only one member will be chosen to advance!"

Shocked murmurs spread throughout the crowd. Natsu jumped up. "Enough with the foreplay Gramps; just get to who's getting in on it!"

"Yes, yes…this year's participating members; Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, Mest Gryder, Freed Justine, Juvia Lockster, Elfman Strauss, Levy McGarden, and Cana Alberona!"

"Alright! Yes!" Natsu jumped up and down in the air. "Yeah, I'm totally gonna win!"

"In addition, every participant will be allowed to choose one partner to assist them in the trials."

"Even better! Happy!" Natsu called to his friend, who picked him up instantly.

"Aye sir!" the Exceed called.

I looked over to Cana knowing that our previous conversation was over. Lucy was sitting next to us. "Wow, congratulations Cana. It must be great to be picked for something like this."

"Yeah…great…" she muttered, seemingly too busy with her drink to notice us.

"Hey are…you alright?" I wondered. She seemed startled at the question.

"Huh? What? Yeah, fine. Why do you ask?" she asked a bit too fast.

"…" I eyed her. "No reason…"

"So Cana, who are you going to pick as your partner?" Lucy asked.

"I think…I don't know. I'd have to think about it."

"Well, everyone else is already choosing theirs. Natsu has Happy. Freed picked Bickslow, and Mest picked Wendy. Heck, even Levy chose Gajeel of all people, and- what?! Elfman picked Evergreen?"

"Alright, alright I get it. I guess I'll choose," she pointed to me. "I'll go with the Devil Boy over here."

"Me?" I wondered. "Why me?"

"You seem like you've got a good head on your shoulders" she shot a sly smile. "That is when you're not hammered over a bet."

"Oh…you're never going to let me live that down. Whatever, sure, we're partners then!"

"Oh, Gray!" Lucy said as he walked past. "Do you want to partner up?"

He shook his head. "Sorry, Lucy, but Loke already agreed to be my partner," he said, shocking her.

"Loke? But he's a celestial spirit! He can't be your partner!"

"But I'm also a Fairy Tail wizard," he said as he materialized behind her. "Which makes me totally eligible, though…these aren't very good summer clothes," he said as he started glowing his suit, and when the glow faded he was wearing what looked like more appropriate wear for the type of weather we were in. "There, much better."

Later that night, back at the Strauss residence, was got a call form Lucy from a small messenger lacrima. "Hey, could you…um…come over to my place?"

I eyed her cautiously. "Look, it's the day before we set out for the S-Class Promotion Trial; is now really a good time?" I asked, referring to…you know what.

"What? No, you big pervert! There's an emergency!"

I sighed. "Alright…I'll be right over I guess," I said as the lacrima shut off. "Mira, Elf-boy, I'm going out for a bit! Don't wait up for me for dinner!" I called as I exited. When I finally made it to my destination…

"Surprise!" Lucy said cautiously motioning to my unconscious partner.

"Cana!" I cried, rushing over to her and shaking her. "Oh jeez, what happened?"

"I'm not sure; I found her in an alleyway about to freeze to death, so I brought her in here."

I rubbed my hands together. "Well there's no fire around, so we'll have to make due," I said, about to shock her into warmth.

"I have a bath you know!" she cried, freaking out slightly. And so we put her into a hot bath and waited. "So…do you have any idea what caused this?" she asked.

I shook my head. "I have no clue. She's been acting weird lately, but she would never tell me why, which is why it shocked me when she asked me to be her partner."

"Oh yeah, about that, Juvia asked me to be her partner, so it looks like we'll all going together!"

"That's great news!" I agreed. "Although…"

"What is it?"

I knocked on my head, frustrated. "I _still_ can't remember who taught me my magic! I should find him and learn more!"

"You're already destructive enough, Cloud Nine."

"Oh yeah, where'd that nickname come from anyway?"

Lucy shrugged. "Gray started calling you that a while ago. When I asked he said that's what you called yourself, so I thought it was like your title or something."

"That'd be…a pretty lame title. Wait, myself…? Oh! He must've meant my Edolas counterpart. Oh yeah…that guy was a hassle, I'll tell you that."

"Tell that to yourself," she said, annoyed.

"I just did," I said back as a certain someone came strolling into the living room with an extra towel draped over her shoulders.

"Ugh…where am I?" Cana asked herself.

"You're currently in Lucy bedroom," I answered.

"Then what are you doing here?!" she demanded, reaching for her magic cards just in case.

"Whoa there, you drunkard; Lucy asked me to come by because she found you at death's door in an alleyway. I just came to make sure you were okay, and from the looks of it," I poked her arm roughly, causing her to flinch. "You aren't okay at all."

Cana swatted my hand away. "Alright, alright, fine. You wanna know the truth? This makes four."

Lucy and I looked at each when she didn't continue. "What?" Lucy asked.

"I said that this makes four; this'll be the fourth time I go for S-class. I've failed three times already and…if I don't make it this time, then I'm quitting Fairy Tail."

"What?! Why?" I demanded. "It can't just be your pride."

"Well…it's complicated, okay?"

"Well, we're family, right? That's what Fairy Tail is."

Cana considered this and soon explained. "Gildarts Clive, Fairy Tail's Ace is…my father," she said, which got the raise of an eyebrow. "I've told anyone, not even Gildarts. I've told myself over and over again that I would confess to him, but I could just never do it. Four years ago, I was called to try out for S-class, and I said that when I made S-class, I would tell him; only after achieving that honorable title would I be worthy to be his daughter."

I chuckled a little. "So it _is_ your pride, huh?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

I shook my head, standing and flexing my arm a little. "Alright then it's settled. Lucy, you're going to sabotage the entire trial so that Cana and I can-"

"I won't do any such thing!" Lucy countered, looking visibly shocked.

I chuckled again. "Alright then Cana, I'm gonna help you to the best of my ability to make S-class. If you don't make it, then I'll quit with too. I don't care who your real family is; no one deserves a life alone!"

"You're gonna…what?" Cana only looked confused as I sat back down. "So…you're just gonna do what you were going to anyway?"

"That's right!"

"Well…that's good I guess. It's good to know that my partner can leave such a…encouraging impression on people. Though sometimes, I swear that you're just like-"

"Oh!" I yelled, popping a fist onto my palm. "I remembered!"

"Remembered what?"

"That name of my teacher! His name was Precht Gaebolg. He came to Rosemary village one day and said I have a lot of latent magical power, and then he taught me for over a year."

"Well what happened to him?"

"He…I'm not sure. I think he just left; said he had to 'continue his journey'. It was a long time after Simon was taken, a few years actually. Simon hid me, and someone else hid Kagura, so we didn't get taken, but almost everyone else did."

"Whoa, whoa, slow down. What are you talking about? Who's Kagura, and who's Simon?" Cana demanded.

I chuckled nervously. "It's actually kind of a long story, but Lucy knows who Simon is."

"He was one of Erza's friends while she was trapped on that island with the tower. He died protecting her."

My light smile turned to a frown at the memory, but it soon lightened. "He died for someone I would give my life for as well. And besides, his killer got what he deserved…I hope…"

 **Author's Note:**

 **Yay, getting onto my favorite arc thus far. Truth be told, I took a break from Fairy Tail midway through the Key of the Starry Sky arc, so I haven't seen it, and I wasn't impressed with the last anime-only arc, the Daphne one, so I was wondering if you guys want me to do that one or if you just want me to get on with the Grand Magic Games arc. Leave a review to tell me your answer, as well as constructive criticism.**

 **Hope you all enjoyed and are looking forward to the next chapter!**


	10. 10 And So It Begins

**Quick Note: I don't normally do these at the beginning, but I want to remind you to tell me whether or not to do the Key of the Starry Sky arc or not, so please leave a review. A reminder will also be at the end, but that's not important.**

 **What's important is to get on with the chapter, so please do enjoy!**

* * *

" _Igi! We have a visitor!" little Kagura cried as she ran into the house, followed leisurely by a middle-aged man._

" _Hello, sir. What brings you to our little abode?" I asked._

" _Actually, young man, I was just wondering if you could spare a bed for a night or two. All of the other houses seem to be full…" he trailed off._

 _I nodded. "Sure, so long as you help out with food and dishes," I agreed. "We don't mind housing you, sir."_

" _Thank you. Hmm…" the man examined me._

" _Is something the matter?"_

" _Your eyes; golden. I can see you hold great promise," he said as he knelt down next to me. "How would you care to learn magic?"_

* * *

I burst awake with Cana slapping me. "Hey! Hey, come on, Cloud Nine! We're here!"

I sat up and held my aching head. "Oh jeez…where are we?" I asked.

She motioned around. "Tenrou Island; Fairy Tail's sacred ground. We're here for the S-class Promotion Trial, remember?"

"We're here already? How'd we get here so fast?" I asked as I stood, stretching my arms.

Erza walked up to us. "You seemed to be having difficulty on the boat, so I decided to make the trip easier for you," she explained with a smile.

"You knocked me out because I get seasick?"

"That's correct," she confirmed. "Natsu gets sick on any transportation, so I did the same for him," she said as she motioned to him lying drooling on the ground with Happy sitting comfortably on his back. Erza then walked away and I didn't see her for a long time after that.

I sighed. "Alright, so when do we start?"

"You don't sound very enthusiastic," Cana commented. I shook my head.

"It's nothing really, but…Devil Slayers don't normally get dreams, not really. It's usually blank when I sleep, but this time…n-never mind. It doesn't matter."

Maybe it's to tell me something, is what I wanted to say. From that point on, I'd have a bad feeling about this trial, but I shook it off as a side effect of the seasickness.

"Attention members of Fairy Tail!" Makarov called above our chatter, ironically causing Natsu to burst up, throwing Happy off. "The trial is officially beginning!"

A wave of cheers ensued.

"The first trial! Behind me are eight passages that will eventually lead to the same place. Only one group may enter any one passage. Down three of the passages are the current S-class mages of Fairy Tail; Erza Scarlet, Mirajane Strauss, and Gildarts Clive. To proceed, you will have to defeat them in combat or otherwise pass their test to their standard. Down another four passages, you will come to one of two chambers in which you will meet another group and will have to best them in combat to proceed. The last passage is a freeway where all you have to do is go through it. Understand?"

"Yes sir!" Natsu yelled. "Come on Happy, let's go down this one!" he called as he dashed into a cave. The others soon followed leaving Cana and I with the last one, number eight.

We walked through neither of us speaking. The only thing lighting up the cave was a small flame from one of Cana's cards, that is until we came out to a large open area, with a single She-Devil standing in the middle.

I smirked. "Oh, well isn't this nostalgic?" I asked cracking my neck. "We met like this once before, haven't we?"

"You have?" Cana questioned.

"That's right, when we first met you tried to kill me and take my Satan Soul for your own magical power."

"You what?!" Cana demanded.

I shrugged. "Back then she stunk of death and evil, so sorry for assuming. Whatever, we got over it anyway."

"Alright Cana and nakama, this is going to be a serious fight, even though you are my guildmates," she said as she activated her Satan Soul. I pointed at her.

"Bring it on, She-Devil. I beat you once by myself, so you can bet-" I couldn't finish as she dashed toward us and knocked us behind her. We both stood shakily as she smirked right back at me. "And now I remember why it was such a pain to beat you last time…"

"Alright, new strategy; don't talk while you're fighting!" Cana snapped as she rolled out of the way of a blast of Mirajane's darkness magic. Laying down a row of cards in front of her and leaping backwards as Mirajane dashed toward her, activating the cards and, in turn, activing a large explosion.

I saw a black sphere emerge from the resulting smoke and quickly shot my own blast of Thunder Devil's Flash toward it as it was shot, dissipating it. I then ran toward Mirajane, who was clearing the smoke, and kicked her away from Cana, who was holding three cards in her hand. She held them out and yelled "Jolt of Fate!" before a massive arc of electricity jetted themselves from the magic circle that had formed, hitting Mirajane, who I had previously kicked into the rocks, dead on.

I met Cana where she standing. "Somehow I get the feeling she was holding back," I commented. "Demons don't go down that easy."

"Yeah, whatever. Hey, why didn't you use more of your magic? It's really effective on her, right?"

"Well, I don't want to use too much of it; I have to save some for the rest of the trial," I said to her, revealing the markings already forming on my palm from the one magic spell.

"Evil Explosion!" Mirajane's voice was heard from above us and soon we were both hit with a blast of her magic, smashing us into the ground. I just barely regained feeling when she charged up the spell again. I dove forward, grabbed Cana and jumped out of the way. I set Cana down as she continued recovering.

"Alright, we should end this quickly," I said.

"I think…I think I know how to knock her out. Can you buy time?" she asked.

"Depends for how long," I said as I stood. "But I'll buy as much as I can."

"Save some power for when I say," she reminded me as I leapt into the air after Mirajane, who had risen higher. I landed on a thundercloud and waited for her to speak or attack. Soon, I couldn't handle the silence.

"That was quite a façade back there. I thought we had you beaten into the dirt," I told her.

"You've certainly grown from when last we fought."

"As have you, nakama," I returned. "Maybe more than I thought, despite you, apparently, having lost your magic for nearly two years."

"Your magic; you've been holding out on me. What? Are you afraid of using it? I'd understand if you were; my magic once frightened me as well."

"My magic is a symbol of hope to those oppressed by evil."

"Then let it shine against mine!" she snapped as we dashed toward each other, each of our fists imbued with our respective magic, neither giving in.

"Zeus' Wrath!" I yelled as I uppercutted her, before giving her a one-two combo in the face and then slamming her down. She caught herself in the air and flew back up into me, knocking me off of my cloud.

"Alright! I'm ready!" Cana yelled up to us as she stood on a high rock. When I glanced down, a gigantic water pool had taken over the area we were in. I wrestled free of the grip Mirajane had on me and kicked her down. She caught herself once again, but Cana threw a few cards onto her. "Triple Gravity!" she yelled as the magic circle appeared and an aura of extra gravity came down upon Mirajane, pulling her further downward. I gave her one last kick; also coming down low enough to where Cana could throw a few lightning spells to me to replenish my magic.

I slammed my fists together as I rose higher before stretching me arms to the side and releasing my magic through them, forming them into two massive and potent white lightning whips. "Devil Slayer's Secret Art: Thunder Devil's Sonic Thunderclap!" I yelled as I brought the massive whips crashing together, the ends just reaching the water as Mira was dragged into it, all of the electricity running through her and through the water.

She yelled for a moment before stopping as the water drained and the lightning dissipated. I landed, barely able to stand. I was panting. Cana patted my back. "Hey, nice light show, Devil Boy!" she exclaimed. "You gonna make it for the rest of the trial?"

I nodded and stood, returning my breathing to normal, looking at Mirajane who was lying down without her magic active, a content smile on her face. I was about to speak. "Don't say anything," she said before I could talk. "I deem that you have passed this trial, and may proceed."

Cana and I high-fived. "S-class, here I come!" she exclaimed excitedly as we turned toward the exit. Suddenly, I remembered, and turned back to Mirajane, picking her up and putting her on one of my clouds.

"That's…not necessary," she said as she shakily sat up.

I shrugged. "Might as well take you to Makarov or Wendy so they can heal you," I said as we followed Cana into the tunnel, ready to continue the trial.

 **Author's Note:**

 **So I got one vote for the Key of the Starry Sky arc, but I would like more before I make a final decision. Please leave a review with your answer.**

 **I hope you all enjoy and are looking for to the next chapter!**


	11. 11 And So It Is Postponed

" _Magic is what happens when nature's energy and your own energy are perfectly in synch. With magic, anything is possible," Precht reminded me._

" _But I don't get it! Why do I only seem to destroy things with my magic?" I questioned._

" _Because that's what your magic was made to do. It can be morphed to do other things, but not until you learn to control its destructive aspects," I looked down, now sullen. "Listen well, boy. You'll get this. I know you will. I've never seen anyone pick just this up as fast as you have, especially given how versatile Slayer-type magic is."_

" _Versatile?"_

" _Yes, you see, Slayer-type magic was meant to combat a certain enemy and that enemy comes in all different shapes and sizes and abilities; in your case demons, and evil in general. There are certain magical boundaries that don't confine Slayer magic. This particular type of magic can be used for a great deal many things, perhaps even using existing spells of other types to morph into a kind you can use. I know I've dabbled in a lot of that myself, let me tell you. Trust me; this is a magic that will make you strong; make you able to do things you've only dreamed of! That's what magic is meant to do! Now, are you ready to give it another try?"_

" _Yes sir!"_

" _Now then, let's look at the grimoire one last time on how to perform the technique, alright?"_

I woke slowly this time, just lazily opening my eyes. "Another dream…" I muttered. I sat up and walked out of the tent I had rested in. We had arrived at the encampment first, allowing us time to rest while waiting for the others. I chose to sleep.

Now it seemed that four other teams have passed the trial; Gray's, Natsu's, Elfman's, and Levy's. The other three were either not here or talking amongst themselves. Makarov called the passing team to him. "Alright, now onto the second phase of this exam. Each of you will be tasked with finding…the First Master's Grave, hidden somewhere on this island. It's location is one only reachable through a search of utmost intuitiveness. You must use your mind as well as your deductive reasoning to find it in six hours or less, understood. I will be waiting there. Good luck! You'll be off then!"

I soon found Cana in the group and we started our trek. "Alright, so if I were Fairy Tail's founding members, where would I bury the First Master?" Cana wonder aloud.

"How about underneath the Tenrou Tree?" I asked.

"…Wouldn't that be too obvious?" she questioned.

"It's worth checking out. Even if it's not there, that'll give us even ground to go wherever we want to next."

She nodded. "Alright, smarty-pants; you lead the way then."

I nodded and flew up above the immediate trees, located the Tenrou Tree, and then started heading in that direction, Cana following close behind. Little did I know that she wasn't the only one following me.

About halfway to the tree, I stopped, getting an uneasy feeling. "What's wrong?" Cana asked. I looked to my right, where I sensed something strange happening.

"There's…something wrong. I'm not sure what, but I feel a…demon."

"Where? On the island? That's impossible," she argued.

"I kind of have a knack for this stuff. I don't think that it would lead me wrong."

"Well, you're a Devil-Slayer. How can you tell?"

"I know a bit more magic than Devil-Slayer magic, namely tracking so I can actually find the devils I slay. That's what's picking this feeling up…I think…Why didn't I notice it before though…" Suddenly, a loud pop was heard from the opposite direction, and a large red flare appeared in the sky above the island. "What's that?"

"It's a signal. The island's under attack!" Gray's voice came out of nowhere as he and Loke appeared from the trees behind us.

"You two were following us?" Cana accused.

"You two seemed like you had a good head on your shoulders," he shrugged.

"Since when was that a phrase that went around? I asked, though I then shook my head. "Alright, we should put the trial on hold to take care of this. Cana and I can go to that strange feeling that's coming from the opposite side of the island. Gray, you and Loke can go see what he signal flare was about. Alright?"

"Got it," Gray agreed.

"Wait…" Cana stopped us. "I mean…with everyone distracted, this would be the perfect time to find the First Master's Grave, right?"

I turned to her. "Cana, our guild could be in trouble. I'd rather them be safe than you win the trial, I'm sorry."

"B-But-"

"Look, we don't have time to argue," I said. "If you feel like the trial is more important, than you can go on without me. I'm going to go check out that disturbance."

She hesitated and then grabbed my hand, placing a single card in it. "In case you need me," she said before running off toward the Tenrou Tree. I looked at the card which said "Help Guild" on it. I put the card in my back pocket before nodding to the other two. I then I jumped onto a thundercloud and headed off toward the disturbance.

Honestly it wasn't that hard to find because of the dark light that was released around it, with Natsu of all people being caught in the blast. I landed and blasted the man who attacked Natsu to the ground, though he got up without a scratch. "So you're the demon I sensed," I commented.

"Who're you? I don't care," he said rhetorically.

"Um…alright," I said as I walked over to Natsu. The attack didn't seem to hurt him as he struggled up, but it did change his scarf from a white to a sleek black color. "Hey, you alright?"

'Hey, but this guy is weird. He didn't even flinch when I socked him, and he…" he looked at his scarf. "And the bastard messed up Igneel's scarf!" he yelled as he burst up, ready to attack the man.

"Whoa there," I said as I held him back. "This guy is giving me some bad feelings; we should be careful!" I yelled at him, finally forcing him to relent a little.

"Gah! Fine, but only this once, alright?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way," I said, both of us readying our magic.

"You shouldn't do that," the man warned. "You'll die."

"We'll see. Can I ask the name of my next prey?"

"My name is…" he trailed off, looking past us. When we both looked, we saw Makarov, using what looked like Titan magic on steroids, facing an airship just off the coast of the island. I knew somehow that that airship was the cause of the trial being put on hold.

I grabbed Natsu's hand and put him on the thundercloud. "Whoa, what are you doing?" he demanded, already getting motion sick.

"Sorry Natsu, but this guy can wait; we have to help Makarov!" I yelled as I sped away and toward the giant Makarov, who was casting one of Fairy Tail's signature spells.

"Fairy Law!" he yelled, his voice booming as I stopped.

On the airship, a lone man stood waiting for the attack, or rather, waiting to counter it. He replicated Makarov's hand motions. "Grimoire Law!" he yelled back. "If two deterrent magics of this caliber met, we wouldn't be the only casualties, _Makarov_!" the man yelled at the Fairy Tail Master.

I was tempted to swoop down and knock the guy out of his stance, but before I could, Makarov ceased the Fairy Law. "It can't be…only one person could replicate such a powerful spell…you're Precht Gaebolg, the second Fairy Tail Master!" Makarov exclaimed. I cool breeze rolled in on me as I tried to comprehend that. After all of these years, my teacher shows up as a villain.

"No way! Master, you must be mistaken!" I yelled, distracting him long enough for "Precht" to attack him, sending him flying and disabling his Titan magic, with the man following close behind. As I watched, several groups of people ejected themselves form the airship, landing on the island. "Crap! We've got to stop them!" I yelled, throwing Natsu off and shocking him back to consciousness.

"Eh? What do you want?!" he yelled as he fell.

I pointed to the groups of people heading toward the island. "They're here to ruin your chances at S-class, and their master hurt Makarov!" I called back. "Take care of them while I help him!"

"Aye!" Natsu yelled back as Happy came and got him, and he dove into their ranks.

I raced toward where Makarov fell and that man followed, but I was knocked off of my thundercloud by a massive purple explosion in their area. I shot back up and ran toward them, finding myself in a clearing where the two men were once flinging magic spells, but now all was calm. Makarov stood as I approached. "Inigo, get out of here! Hades is too much for you!" he yelled at me as the man saw me.

"Ah, I remember you. You were my first Lost magic student," he said. "I came back to look for you, but you weren't there."

"You…who are you?" I demanded.

"My boy, don't you recognize me?" he said as he spread his arm to his sides.

"I said what is your name?!" I snapped as I lit up my magic around me.

The man cracked a devilish smile. "My name is Precht Gaebolg, or rather, Hades, master of the Grimoire Heart Guild."

"Precht…" I muttered, a flood of memories entered my mind, good memories of a better time. "You can't be…"

He held his hand out to me. "Come, Inigo. You are to be my chosen eighth kin. Leave these people and come to where you belong, among fellow wandering souls. I've heard that that's what you've been doing for the past five years anyway."

"I-I…" I hesitated, my heart starting to race.

Makarov jumped in between us. "I won't let you touch him!" he yelled before he was tossed out of the way using so kind of levitation magic and then pierced through with a beam of light. "Gah…Inigo…run…" he choked out as he landed.

I stepped back, my arms starting to shake. I looked back to Hades. "Buzz off, old man. Inigo, do not heed his words; make your decision yourself."

I lit up my magic again. "Shut up!" I yelled, holding my hand out to threaten him.

"You're going to try and fight me?" he mocked. "Your Master couldn't even defeat me, and yet you will try?"

My heart continued pounding. "…No," I answered as I put my hand down, shaking my head. "I can't fight you; not after all that you let me do…"

"Good, then you'll-"

"But…if you hurt my guild master, then I'm never going to join you!" I yelled as I made a mad dash for Makarov, narrowly avoiding his Piercing Bullet spell, and grabbed Makarov, trying to run away, though I didn't make it as Hades blasted me away, far away.

I held onto Makarov like my life depended on it, making sure that I took the brunt of the impact from the fall. "Inigo…" Makarov choked out.

"Don't say anything; conserve your energy," I said to him, laying him onto the ground. Shaking was beginning to be heard around the island, from everyone on it. "Next time, if it's to protect my guild, I'm going to attack him with everything I've got, but…maybe I can talk to him," I said with a smile, optimistic.

Makarov shook his head. "Darkness…overtook him. He'll stop at nothing to get what he wants…"

I stood. "I have to go help. If he wanted me in his 'kin' then they must be pretty powerful, and he also said that he taught Lost magic to other people, so they must be the kin, the other people that he taught," I said, hopping on a thundercloud. "Don't worry, Master, I'll come back for you."

 **Author's Note:**

 **So the consensus is in and with my personal vote included, I will not be doing the Key of the Starry Sky arc. I have a few reasons for this; one there aren't any good match-ups that I could use that wouldn't just have repeat victory speeches/reasons from this arc or earlier, and also the fact that that arc is almost entirely focused on Lucy who has little to no connection with my OC Inigo here, so...yeah...anyway, I will make up for this by including my very own arc...at some point or another. I don't know, we'll see.**

 **Alright, sorry for any who are disappointed, but I promise I'll make up for it somehow, and I hope you're all looking forward to the next chapter!**


	12. 12 I'm Not Running

I raced toward where one of the battles was taking place, namely between Elfman, Evergreen, and some other guy. The guy was using a strange form of magic, using written-on-air runes to use spells, one's strong enough to overpower Elfman. I landed and knocked the guy upside the head.

"Hey!" I called. "Who the hell are you?" I demanded.

"Ash, where's your partner?" Elfman demanded, distracting me long enough for the guy to swat me away toward the two.

"The trial's on hold, don't you know. These assholes interrupted it and hurt the master," I quickly summed up.

Elfman nodded and cracked his knuckles. "Well, then it looks like we're just going to have to take them out to finish it, now won't we?"

"Great minds think alike, Elf-boy!" I agreed as we charged him, our fists imbued with magic, though he just wrote out a couple of runes and a blast of darkness erupted from his palm, with us both diving out of the way just in time for Evergreen to get hit by it.

"Damn, what type of magic is that?" I questioned.

"It's Freed's magic; this guy up and stole it from him."

"He steals magic?"

"Oh no, don't get me wrong, I don't steal anything," the man called over to us, listening in. "I just borrow magic until I get tired of it, until I find one more useful for the situation."

"Oh? And how about a name to put to it?"

"It's called Fallen Soul; I take my fallen opponent's magic for my own use. As for my name-"

"I don't care," I interrupted, though he gave it anyway.

"It is Shi Qian. I'm sure you've heard of me."

"Um…actually…I haven't," I admitted. "Elfman?" I asked as I turned to the man who only shrugged in response, Evergreen soon giving the same answer.

Shi Qian's expression then changed to one of pure malice. "You…haven't heard of me? Well…I guess we'll have to remedy that, now won't we!" he yelled, carving out runes at an astonishing rate and pounding us with magic spells which we were forced to dodge.

"Thunder Devil's Flash!" I yelled, sending a bolt of white lightning his way, though he simply deflected it at Elfman with Freed's magic. "Damn…" I muttered as I rushed toward him, managing to get around his rune barrier while Elfman pounded on it. "Thunder Devil's Rage!" I yelled, surprising him and sending him flying through his barrier.

He then used his runes to make himself a pair of wings, flying above us.

"How versatile is Freed's magic?" I demanded, making thunderclouds for us to stand on.

"Apparently a lot!" Elfman added as he leapt from the cloud and up to Shi Qian. I was about to join in, but then he said something which rubbed me the wrong way.

"Ah, ah, ah, Devil Boy. You remember your _partner_ , don't you?" he asked as he swatted Elfman away.

"How do you know about that?"

"I retain the Fallen's recent memories as well. Tell me, where is she right now?"

"She's going to finish the trial, she's going to the First Master's grave."

"Ah…I see…well, from what I hear, she's not the only one."

"W-what?"

"Don't listen to him, Inigo!" Elfman called, but I was too enthralled by it to stop.

"You see, Grimoire Heart has its own Ace, and he's very interested in the hidden magic on this island, and I'm sure the first place he'll look…is as your _First Master's_ grave," he put poison into his words.

I stepped back. "I-I…" I hesitated.

"Inigo, he's trying to fool you," Elfman tried to reason.

"I-I…I can't take that chance. I'm sorry Elfman!" I yelled back at him as I sped off toward the Tenrou Tree. As I drew closer, I could feel his magic power. It was strange; it wasn't a devil's energy, just plain magic power, probably being released.

I landed at the site of where it was, with Natsu, Lucy, Wendy, and Happy already facing off with the man.

I landed and ran toward the man, letting out Thunder Devil's Rage point-blank into his back, sending him sprawling away. He quickly recovered and faced me. "Ah, another Fairy to squash. Good, I needed to loosen up before acquiring the First Master's magic," he said monotonously.

"You won't go near it!" I snapped, Natsu and Wendy soon getting up behind him. I nodded to them, and they seemed to understand, letting out their roars as I let out my rage, hoping to pummel the Ace into submission, but he downright deflected the spells up into the air. As we charged him afterwards, he simply held his hands out to us and sent us flying away, my feet being whipped from under me.

"It's no use; gravity is something you can't fight against."

"You bastard!" Natsu yelled, though we were all soon forced into the ground with the Ace's magic.

" _Damn…_ " I thought. " _…I guess this is why he's the ace, though._ _Jeez, I can't even move…"_

I really couldn't either, no matter how much I tried. Soon, if felt heat around me, and when I looked I saw Natsu using his Fire Dragon's Roar at the ground, spreading it dangerously close to me, but it did stun the Ace long enough for me to stand and fire my Thunder Devil's Flash at him.

"Hold it!" I heard a voice from the edge of the arena.

"Cana!" Natsu cried happily. "You're okay!"

She wasn't worried about that though, as she held her arm out for the Ace to see. "Look close, you creep; this is what's gonna beat you in the dust!" she yelled as her new tattoos glowed red and she held her arm up to the sky. I watched her perform the spell very closely, enthralled by its every detail, which I found would be very important later. "Gather! O river of light that is guided by the fairies! Shine! In order to perish the fangs of evil!" she yelled triumphantly before she pointed her fist at the Ace. "Fairy Glitter!"

A brilliant spiral a golden light erupted from her and started forming a circle around the arena before slowly closing in, passing through us painlessly, but crushing the ace. I could definitely feel its power as it encircled him and started to crush him, before it erupted outward in that same circle in a massive wave of energy, but sadly…the Ace had deflected that as well.

Cana dropped to her knees, exhausted from the amount of magic power it had consumed. "Impossible…you…stopped it?"

"How pathetic for the magic that I covet to belong to such a worthless mage," the Ace said boredly as he walked toward Cana. "However, soon I will pry it from your cold, dead hands once I finish you off like the trash you are," he said as he stood over her, reaching her hand out to her.

I struggled to stand, but even though I succeeded, I was too late. The Ace reared his fist back, and struck…or at least I thought he did. As I watched, a blur appeared out of nowhere and stepped in-between them, sending the Ace flying backwards.

I took a deep breath in as I realized the Fairy Glitter spell was over, my mind having gone of autopilot for its duration, taking in its beauty. I shook my head as I realized that Gildarts had come. "Get out of here! I can handle this one!" the man called to us. I ran over and got Cana on her feet.

"Come on," I said to her, despite her reluctance as we all ran as their battle began. "Alright, where to?" I asked.

"Well, we should probably make sure the master is okay," Wendy reasoned. We all nodded and were all about to go to him, but then a massive explosion came from the encampment. I looked back as my heart started to race. I remembered who was at the encampment.

"Mirajane is over there!" I yelled, turning toward it. "Sorry guys, but I've got to…" I trailed off as I raced toward the encampment.

I couldn't even feel the branches smashing my arms as I flew through the trees, going as fast as my magic would allow until I saw the situation. This tall guy was standing over Mirajane, who looked to have been beaten and badly. Bruises covered her body as well as burn marks and cuts from branches. I also suspected she already used all of her magic power given that she wasn't in her Satan Soul form.

"Thunder Devil's Ravan Katana!" I cried as I raced toward the two as the man was about to give the final blow. I dove between them and held my sword behind me as I faced Mirajane. The impact nearly sent me crashing into her actually, but I managed to stay on my feet. Both of them looked shocked to see me. "I…already let one Strauss die…I'll be _damned_ if I'm letting another one bite the dust too!" I yelled as I forced the man back.

"Oh? And who might you be?" he wondered.

"I'm the guy that's going to kick your ass for hurting my nakama," I answered, pointing my sword at him. "The name is Inigo Asher, a Devil Slayer wizard."

"Nakama…" Mirajane struggled.

"A Devil Slayer wizard?" the man pondered. "Then are you perhaps the one Master Hades wanted within our ranks?"

"Yes."

"And yet…you refused?"

"You're damn right."

The man sighed. "Very well, foolish boy. I, Azuma, will take the opportunity to rid us of your presence."

"We'll see," I said, readying my sword.

"Nakama…run…"

"I'm not running again!" I snapped, dashing toward the man, sword at the ready. He simply held his hand out and a massive wave of an explosion engulfed me, not doing much damage, but definitely startling me. As the explosion faded, I saw fireworks from the aftermath, and instinctively jumped forward before they could explode, charging straight into Azuma.

He blocked the swipe with only his arm and then his palm collided with my chest, a smaller explosion coming along with it, flinging me high into the trees.

I managed to catch myself on a branch, and willed away my sword, opting instead to imbue my fists with my magic to at least match him in physical strength. He then appeared literally out of the trunk of the tree and met me on the branch. "Thunder Devil's Rage!" I yelled, the energy exploding from my mouth and into Azuma. He simply leapt through it and punched my chest again, but this time I managed to hold his fist back, the small blast separating us before I charged him once again, trying desperately to gain an advantage, but I just couldn't get one.

" _Am I really going to have to use that?_ " I asked myself.

I was knocked up into the air. I made a thundercloud, looking down and taking a deep breath, sucking in some of the clouds nearby. "Thunder Devil's Rage!" I yelled, sending a slightly stronger blast than before down at him.

He was standing directly below me, and he held his hand out. "Tower Burst," I heard him mutter before an enormous column of flames shot up and down him, slicing through my spell and enveloping me, knocking me straight out of the sky and back near Mirajane. I struggled to stand as Azuma caught up. "And you were supposed to be one of us?" he wondered to himself.

"Nakama…run…" Mirajane choked out.

Without a second thought, I let out a flash of light before breaking into a run toward Mirajane, picking her up and leaping onto a thundercloud, trying to get as far away from that man as possible before I did what I was about to do.

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Hey guys, so...I don't really have much to say other than that I know what the ending of the story will be now, after I've thought about it. Anyway, if I make a sequel, I know exactly what it's going to be; the next generation, so I'll need some OC ideas because I'm only one person. Nothing is final right now, but just in case, I figured I'd give you guys time to think about it and let me know. If you do have any ideas though DO NOT LEAVE THEM IN A REVIEW. PM me by hitting the little letter near my profile name at the top. I want reviews in the review section, not ideas. I'll have more details on that type of thing once and if I finalize things.**

 **Anyway, that was a mouthful...and I guess I did have a lot to say, but anyway, I hope you're all looking forward to the next chapter!**


	13. 13 Give It Your All

Once I was a sufficient distance away, I set Mirajane down. I was shaking. Mirajane put a hand to my face. "What's wrong? You…protected me, right?"

"He's still coming," I said, my hair shrouding my eyes. "I'm sorry, but this is going to hurt," I said before pressing my lips to hers, reaching into her magical reserves. Agonized moans soon came from her as I found what I was looking for. I tried to take one of her different forms that she never used. After finding what I needed, I removed my lips from hers and stood, feeling the demon's power course through my veins as I absorbed it. When I looked, Mirajane was now unconscious, and I didn't blame her. It was like I took a part of her own soul for this.

As it grew more intense, I leapt up into the air, feeling my magic power be released involuntarily. I screamed at the top of my lungs from the power, my voice not entirely my own anymore as a mile-long circle around me formed as a strong storm which blocked out the sun.

With one final push, I forced actual lightning bolts from the sky, finally achieving this form again. My hair grew and turned a sleek silver color, my nails grew into claws, and my teeth into fangs. My eyes turned from a gold iris with white around it to gold with black around it, and my skin had become pale. Devil's wing's protruded from my back, and lining the outside of my body were constant streaks of white lightning. The feeling felt foreign, as it had the last time I used this form, the only other time I'd been forced to use it.

I lowered myself down to the tree line, where Azuma was waiting. "Ah, and what is this? A power kept hidden away?" he asked.

"There are times when the path to victory is through a dark light," I chanted. "There are times when in order to defeat a demon, you must become a demon yourself."

"Ah, so this is the final stage of Devil Slayer magic, as Dragon Force is for Dragon Slaying magic."

"No…but this, Demon's Echo, is all I'll need to beat you," I said, causing him to laugh.

"Good then! I'm looking forward to the challenge. It'll hopefully be more than that so-called Demon showed me earlier!" he mocked Mirajane. I disappeared in a literal flash, appearing in front of him. He looked surprised by the speed and retaliated prematurely. I disappeared again, this time behind him, punching him with such force that it sent him flying back to the ground with a crash.

I followed him in suite, waiting for him to get up. "Get up; if you go down that easily, then you aren't worth my time."

"Gah!" he burst to standing. "I admit, you're stronger than I thought you'd be in this form, but you'll have to do much better than that against me."

With that, we resumed our battle, matching each other blow for blow, him with his explosions and me with my lightning, neither of us giving an inch.

We stepped away from each other. "You should stop now; I'm beginning to get frustrated."

"Stop?!" he exclaimed. "I haven't had this beating in my heart in so long! Why would I stop now?" he demanded, charging toward me, but before he ever reached me, a bikini-clad S-class wielding a sword interrupted us. Erza pointed her sword at Azuma.

"I hope you aren't planning on attack my comrades, monster," she warned as she looked back at me. "Inigo, is that…?"

"It's still me, yes," I assured her. "Good, with you here, then we'll have no problem taking this guy down."

"I suspect that you can 'take him down' easily in that new form of yours, but I'll do everything in my power to make it painless.

Azuma now looked slightly unnerved. "Titania Erza," he said. "And a demon? This just turned from exhilarating to not so."

"What's wrong? It's a bitch when a group gangs up on you during something important, isn't it?" I mocked him, making my own sword. Erza Requipped into her Heaven's Wheel armor.

We both charged him, aiming to take him down quickly, but he soon started retreating. Erza Requipped into her flight armor as he did, and I started to go faster as well, not letting him get away. Soon, I managed to flank him. "Flash of the Demon's Echo!" I yelled, causing ten bolts to shoot from my fingers in an arc in front of me, cornering half of the directions he could go for the duration of it, allowing Erza to engage him even further. Soon however, he got away again. This time, he got quite far, and when we caught up, he was just standing there.

"How about a little game?" he asked. "I'm always looking for a challenge, and I assume you are too. If can defeat me…" the tree behind him uprooted itself and began to fall. I soon realized that it just so happened to be the Tenrou Tree. I felt my magic power slowly begin draining itself to where I could barely retain this form. "I shall fix the Tenrou Tree for you."

It seemed Erza was starting to feel its effects too. We both nodded to each other and charged Azuma, already slowing down from the Tenrou Tree being destroyed. Azuma kicked me away, and as Erza was about to slash downwards onto him, he caught her with his branches, making them explode in a line until it reached, sending her rearing into one of the massive roots of the Tenrou Tree.

"What's wrong Fairies? Can't live without your precious tree?" he mocked.

"Just you wait and see!" I snapped. "Rage of the Demon's Echo!" I yelled, a beam of electricity far more massive and potent than anything else I had fired. It practically drained me of my magic power, and when the blast cleared, Azuma only looked slightly fazed.

Erza came up behind him. "Let's put all of our remaining power into one attack!" she order up to me. I nodded.

"Greatsword of Devil's Echo!" I yelled, forming a massive blade, larger than I ever had summoned before, just barely being able to maintain it. As Erza charged from below, I charged from above, planning on taking him down once and for all.

However, nothing ever goes to plan, and we certainly didn't plan more vines coming up and grabbing us, interrupting our attack. They shot up and down our bodies, squeezing until we dropped our weapons and then exploding onto the us. Battered, we fell. "And so it seems the fun is over. I'd thought more of the mighty Titania, but I guess nothing is ever a good as people make it out to be."

We both struggled to stand. "No…I won't-" I choked out, only to be blasted back.

"Inigo!" Erza called, though she was having her own problems. Azuma followed me.

"And what exactly do you have to offer, boy? Your magic power is being sapped as we speak from the Tenrou Tree, while I only grow stronger as I continue absorbing its magical power."

"You idiot…" I muttered as I stood.

"What was that?"

"You're denser than I thought if you think our power comes from some tree on an island in the middle of nowhere," I started drawing in one of the clouds from above, sucking it into my mouth. I made Fairy Tail's gesture, exposing my mark. "This right here is what gives me my power!"

"Your guild mark is useless!" he mocked. I shook my head.

"I guess you wouldn't understand, but I've chosen this mark to mean something special. All of my friends, everyone in the world, when I make this gesture, I want them to know who I am and the guild I'm a part of, because there's none other like it. This mark represents the memories that I hold that have let me grow as a person," I said, soon thinking back to the Lisanna's death. " _All_ of the memories that make me who I am; they're what give me my power!" I yelled. Erza then leapt over to my side.

"As are our comrades, giving us words of encouragement from the most unthinkable places. Our hearts are connected; it's a bond that's held together by more than a tree's roots," Erza added as Azuma stepped back.

"T-that light, where…where is it coming from?!" he demanded. Erza and I both formed our swords.

I saw the light; I saw flowing white locks in it as well, giving me a warm smile. " _Give your all, okay?_ " the vision said, making me smirk as we dashed forward in unison.

"For Fairy Tail!" we both yelled, using up the rest of our combined magic power in a cross-slash past Azuma.

"I see…so that's why your guild is special…it truly is…splendid. I concede," he admitted, falling to the ground and rooting himself with the tree, soon bringing it back up and restoring our magic power, at least beginning the process.

I dropped to my knees, exhausted and reverting to my normal self, my markings up to my neck, the demon I took from Mirajane now returning to her. "Inigo, what was that technique called?" Erza asked as she dropped as well.

"It's called…Demon's Echo; it's a dangerous amplification technique, that's triggered by either intense rage or absorbing a demon's soul, or something along those lines," I explained. "While I'm in it, my markings don't proceed any further, but it puts so much strain on me that I hate using it. This was…only the second time actually."

"When was the first?"

"When Elf-boy killed Lisanna," I admitted. "I changed then, almost killing the kid too…" I said with my head down, soon picking it back up. "Speaking of the Take-Over siblings, I have to go get Mirajane; I kind of stole a demon from from her and left her unconscious in the forest, so…"

Erza smirked. "Boys will be boys…" she said back.

"Oh? And what have we here?" a familiar voice asked as I was swatted away with great force, with me being too weak to put up a fight against it. I slammed into the tree next to Erza.

I managed to look up. "Shi Qian…"


	14. 14 Memory Lane

"Shi Qian…he beat Elfman…?" I muttered. "The seventh kin…I don't have enough magic power to fight him, damn it…" I muttered to myself as we both attempted to stand.

"And what is this? Two fairies with wings ripe for plucking? Which shall I take for my own I wonder?" he wondered.

"So you're the seventh kin?" Erza wondered.

"I think, I'll take…the Fairy Queen's magic for a while," he said, rushing toward her, knocking her back into the tree I was in. "And now…Fallen Take Over!" he yelled, a magic circle forming in front of him, a beam of light erupting form his back, heading away from us, while a separate one came toward us. I took action, running in front of Erza as fast as I could.

"No! Inigo!" she yelled, though it was too late. The blast struck me and lasted longer than I expected, draining me of the rest of my magic power and then some.

As it faded, I felt different, sick and tired; so tired. I dropped to the ground, my consciousness fading as Erza seemed to grow more and more distant from me.

* * *

" _I don't understand, Master, why are people scared of me?" I asked him once I returned from a request from a faraway village. "I did what they wanted, so why did they run away from me?"_

" _They did?" Precht wondered. "Well, yours_ is _a Lost Magic, one so rare that you might be the only one who knows it."_

" _But still, they didn't have to run away…" I muttered while sitting down at the table. Precht put his hand on my shoulder._

" _My boy, you'll meet people who instinctually fear what they don't understand or what is a dark magic, which yours sadly is classified as in the books," he explained, which only made me more depressed. "But, if yours is a dark magic, it's the brightest one in the world as well as the most beautiful."_

" _Really?"_

 _He smiled at me. "Trust me, I've seen a_ lot _of strange magic, and yours is the one of the strangest and one that I'm glad I taught you. Your Lost Magic will shine brightly, bright enough to block out any darkness that may come to try and cloud your way. That's what Lost Magic has become; a gateway for heroes. People who fight against darkness at its very core. That's what you'll be able to do," he assured me, patting me on the back. "But for now…why don't you get me a glass of water?"_

 _I drooped my shoulders. "Yeah, yeah…" I said as I did the task, soon hearing Kagura come in._

" _Hey there! How've things been going while I've been gone?" I asked her._

" _Well. Thank you," she answered, putting the recent dishes into the sink and starting to wash them._

" _Any problems?" I asked._

" _Not a one," she assured, flashing a grin before returning to her work. "You should stop worrying so much."_

 _I chuckled. "I guess I should. Hey, Master, you wanna spar a little?"_

* * *

" _Master, where are you going?" I questioned as I ran to meet him at the village's edge._

 _He had a bag slung over his shoulder, as well as his travelling clothes on. "I'm off, Inigo. I've taught you all that I can in your magic; the rest is up to you to learn and develop yourself."_

" _But where are you going?" I repeated. "In case I need you again?"_

" _Hm…that's a good question," he admitted. "Don't worry, I'm sure our paths will cross again, when the time is right. And trust me, I think I'll need you more than you'll need me," he said as he reached into his pocket. "Actually, it's good that you stopped me. Here," he said as he handed me a wad of Jewels. "A gift from teacher to pupil. Alright, I'll be off to continue my journey," he said as he walked off, leaving me with nothing but my normal life once again._

 _I returned to the inn, where Kagura was sweeping. "What's wrong?" she asked, seeing my sullen expression._

" _The Master left us to travel."_

" _Well, he couldn't stayed cooped up with us, could he?" she wondered._

" _I guess not…" I muttered, resting my head on the table._

" _Hey, Igi, can you help me over here? I need you to reach this," she said, standing on her tiptoes and reaching for the flour used for our dinner. I smiled warmly at her as I complied, using my superior height to reach it. "Thanks."_

 _Three weeks later, the news came._

" _About the search that started when your village was attacked," a man from the Rune Knights entered the inn, and I got Kagura out. "I'm here on business, thank you," he said as I tried to offer a drink._

" _What of Simon?" I asked._

" _Well…I'm sorry, but when we tracked them to an island, there wasn't anyone there, but there were a lot of bones. The only eligible word on the island is a repeated name, who I could only guess was their leader; Jellal. I could only guess as to what…" the man trailed off as Kagura poked back in, tears bursting from her eyes. "I-I'm sorry madam, I didn't realize-"_

" _Where's my brother?!" she demanded. She was around ten at this point, with the wound of loss just beginning to close when this news came, even nearly six years later. "Is he…?"_

" _I…I'm sorry," was all the Rune Knight could say before he was called back to his leader or whatever._

 _With us now alone, Kagura ran into me, crying into my chest. I was trying so hard not to cry, to stay strong because I knew that Simon would've been able to do so. If I were the one taken, he would've been able to comfort her, so I tried my best to do so as well._

" _I promise…" I muttered, just loud enough for her to hear one she stopped crying. "I promise that I'll get stronger, and I'll make whoever did this pay…I promise, Kagura."_

 _Promise…_

" _I promise…" a different voice filled my thoughts. "I promise to always be there…"_

" _Nakama…" my voice escaped for me to hear. "Don't make promises you can't keep," I said as the scene appeared. Mirajane and I, when we were both sixteen. We'd met during one of her jobs and she decided to keep me company during the summer. It was the end of that time. "Remember, you can't stay with me forever. You've got commitments," I said, grazing her guild mark. At that point, I could care less about which guild she belonged to, and I never bothered to remember it, all the way from when we met to past when I left._

 _It's funny, I always wanted to know after I left her, but I never asked the name. She only referred to it as her home or her guild, but never by the name._

 _Mirajane stepped closer. "You could always come with me…" she teased me._

" _And_ I've _got commitments too," I reminded her. "Tell you what," I handed her a lacrima I bought. "Here, whenever this glows, I'll be around. You can find me if you're on a job, deal?" I asked._

 _She let out a frustrated grunt and separated from me. "Why…do we have to leave it up to chance?" she questioned. "That's not fair to either of us!"_

" _Well…" I trailed off. "I can't really say anything about that, but it's not like we have a choice. You have family back at your guild, and I have debts that need to be collected, and I don't see myself collecting anytime soon."_

 _Mirajane sighed. "…Fine, but I better see you again," she said, a light pink on her cheeks as she reached in and pecked my cheek before running off toward the train station._

" _Goodbye, nakama," I said after her._

" _Nakama…" Mirajane's voice once again filled my thoughts. "Nakama…nakama," the voice grew louder, more frantic. "Nakama! Wake up!"_

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _OCs! Give me them!...I mean...you don't have to if you don't want to, but it would be amazing of you to give me a break on the creative wheel here. I pinky-promise that you'll be credited...probably. Check my profile for details on OC submission if you are interested, which I doubt most of you are._**

 ** _Anyway...uh yeah, please leave a review to help me get better and I'll see you guys in the next chapter!_**


	15. 15 Something Important

Mirajane and the others were recovering when Erza stumbled into the camp with me on her shoulder. "Nakama!" she called as she stumbled over to me, my markings gone and my magic power nonexistent. Erza dropped me and fell to the ground, exhausted. "Quick, get them some medical attention!" she called to the others, who had already approached.

We were both laid up into beds, with Erza still conscious while I was down and out from having me magic stolen.

"What happened?" Mirajane questioned Erza as she wrapped up my wounds.

"We beat Azuma, but then the seventh kin ambushed us. He tried to steal my magic, but Inigo got in the way. He passed out shortly after. I already checked, he's still alive, but barely," she explained.

"Seventh kin?"

"Sh Qian as I recall, using something called the Fallen Soul," she explained.

"So he has all of Inigo's magic now?"

"I'd assume. I'm guessing he'll be magic-less forever unless we defeat him."

"No, I'll handle it," Mirajane said as she stood. "If…" she trailed off, trying to form the words. "If this Shi Qian has Inigo's magic, then he'll be able to track me because of my Satan Soul. I should-"

"You aren't thinking about taking this guy alone, are you?" Elfman asked as he walked in. "The guy's a monster. He took my magic too, and Freed's and he was a killer with both of them instantly. He takes people's recent memories too, so he knows most of, if not all of Inigo's techniques."

"And you lost to him before, didn't you?" Erza questioned.

"This isn't about me," she argued. "I need to leave for now because the guild is in danger if I stay," she stood and started walking out. "I promise, I'll be back, nakama."

With that, she activated her Satan Soul and flew into the air, releasing her magical energy to draw Shi Qian out, which is exactly what she got. The two faced each other in the sky, with Sky Qian having trouble containing my magic. "You know, I was a little angry at first, having that little boy get in the way of my Fallen Soul, but _his_ magic is much more fun than Titania's would have been."

"That 'little boy' is dying because of you!" Mirajane retorted.

"That is only because of his weakness; he'll forever wallow in his uselessness until the day he dies, which just so happens to be today. He should thank me; death would an escape by now," he said with a twisted grin on his face. "Surely you'd agree; you were there too."

"Yes, I remember well the sins that he's committed, but I've also chosen to look past them, because that's what he would have done for me had I been the one who ran."

"Would he now? That's quite interesting, because he ran away and left your little brother before I beat him too. I guess he hasn't changed that much."

Mirajane clenched her fists. "Enough talk, thief. I'm going to defeat you, and return my nakama's magic to him."

"We'll see," another sick grin flashed. "But I warn you; I won't hold back like he would."

Mirajane dashed toward Shi Qian, who met her blow for blow with white lightning imbuing his fists. Mirajane reared back a fist and shot it forward, though the thief dodged it and let loose an uncontrolled blast toward her, knocking her out of the sky.

Mirajane reached her hands up to the sky. "Satanic Impact!" she yelled, sending a small yet dense orb up to meet Shi Qian before it detonated, releasing a shockwave of evil energy which collapsed in on itself, with Shy Qian taking the brunt of the attack.

Mirajane flew up to meet the thief's fist however, as he remained unscathed from the attack, merely engaging her in a one-on-one brawl in the skies, small shockwaves coming from their fists as they met.

They separated, Mirajane panting. She knew that she couldn't keep up this form for much longer. She still hadn't fully recovered her magic power; she would need to end this soon.

"Hm…no good She-Devil. It seems you aren't up to snuff," he said, drawing in magical energy from the surrounding clouds. "I guess I'll finish you off here, but you won't be so lucky as to have your magic taken from you."

"We'll see, thief," she retorted, flying away from him a bit before forming her hands into a sphere, charging up energy between them. "Soul Extinction!" she yelled as she released it, the orb of energy expanding into a massive black and purple wave.

"Tisk, tisk, She-Devil. Thunder Devil's Rage!" Shi Qian returned the beam of energy with one of my own, completely blasting through Mirajane's and colliding with her and sending her crashing into the ground, without enough magic power to retain her Satan Soul.

She was at the mercy of Shi Qian. "No…it can't end like this…" she muttered herself as she attempted to stand up.

She got onto her hands and knees to help herself stand, though she never made it to that point. "Good, you're where you belong; kneeling before those above you, bowing down to them, but sadly the time for mercy is over," he said as he grabbed her hair and lifted her up by it.

He proceeded to pound her from behind, no doubt cracking a few bones in the process before tossing her up and hitting her away. Mirajane crashed into the trunk of a tree and fell to the ground, barely conscious. She managed to look up at him, but instead she looked past him.

"Come on, Big Sis, you're S-class; you can do anything!" Lisanna's voice filled her ears as she shed tears upon the sight of her sister. Then another person appeared.

"Lisanna is right," Elfman said, his voice slightly higher pitched from being a little younger. "Anything's possible to protect what's important."

Then…

"Nakama…" she muttered, seeing my beautiful golden eyes and a wide grin on my face as I flexed my arm triumphantly. I was younger; probably how old I was the summer we met.

"Magic is a gift, and I plan to use it for something important; to protect my nakama! That's my promise!" my words echoed in her ears as she stood, a newfound strength coursing through her body.

"I promise too…" she muttered, reciting the words she'd said when she agreed to stay with me for the summer.

"Oh? Still hungry for pain? Fine then, have some!" Shi Qian yelled as he attempted to punch her, though she had activated a different Satan Soul this time, one much more powerful, to block it.

"I made him a promise once; that I would protect him so that he could do the same for me. I intend to keep it, no matter what the cost."

"W-what? Where did this magic power come from?" he questioned, his voice showing signs of fear. "No matter! I'll crush you just like last time!"

"He may have defeated me in this form before, but you don't use his magic to its fullest potential, so I have no worries," she continued. "Satan Soul; Sitri."

Before Shi Qian could react, Mirajane knocked him away with such force that it put out his magic. She didn't let up though, pounding him over and over against the trunk of a tree until it snapped in half before throwing him high up into the air.

"Return my nakama's magic!" she yelled, racing toward him and slashing through him in the air, a bright light being released from his body as he did so.

With a sigh, Mirajane followed the light back to the camp and saw it enter the tent in which I was laid up. She landed and was quickly informed on the situation before entering my tent and kneeling over me.

"… _Fine, but I better see you again," she said, a light pink on her cheeks as she reached in and pecked my cheek before running off toward the train station._

" _Goodbye, nakama," I said after her._

" _Nakama…" Mirajane's voice once again filled my thoughts. "Nakama…nakama," the voice grew louder, more frantic. "Nakama! Wake up!"_

I burst awake in a flash, head-butting Mirajane on my way up, which sent me back down. We both reared back, holding our foreheads. "Oh…" I moaned as I sat up once again, more slowly this time. I looked around. "We're…back at the tent?" I wondered.

"Yes we are. How are you feeling?" she demanded more than asked.

I ignored her. "What about Shi Qian?"

"He stole your magic, but I got it back for you," she explained. I examined her for a moment as she looked away with a blush on her face. She looked almost embarrassed, as if something happened or she realized something during the fight. I chuckled a little and pulled her into a hug, my chin resting on her head.

"You beat him in my place; thank you, nakama," I said. "I promise I won't leave you like that again and…I'm sorry for what I did earlier."

"It's…fine. You did what you had to do…right?" she returned.

I let her go and stood, stretching my arms a bit. "Sorry for being all business, but what's the situation?" I asked.

"An attack team was formed and is confronting Hades. The rest of us are on the defense team to guard each other."

"Alright then, I'll be back," I said as I started to walk out.

"W-what?" she stopped me. "You're not going; you haven't recovered yet."

"It doesn't matter."

"What…happened with you and Hades?"

I sighed. "…It wasn't Hades; it was Precht, the man who Hades used to be. He taught me my magic. I figured…that I'd…I'd-"

"You're going to try and talk to him, aren't you?"

"…I want to, but somehow I don't think he'll listen. No, I'm going to end him for hurting my Master, my guild, and…" I stated, pulling away from Mirajane. "For hurting my nakama. I promise I'll come back," I ended while walking out, propelling myself through the air on a cloud and toward the downed airship on the edge of the island.

I already saw regular lightning being thrown around inside, and part of me wondered why, but the other part didn't care.

I was going to finish this.


	16. 16 Shine

I crashed through the ceiling of the ship, revealing a battle already taking place between a man with lightning magic and Hades. I dashed toward Hades and kicked him into the other man, who kicked him away in turn.

"You're late, Cloud Nine," the man said.

"Shut the hell up," I said. "Who are you?"

"Laxus Dreyar, former S-class mage of Fairy Tail and current kicker of this guy's ass," he said smugly. I lit up my magic as he did as well. "Huh, I guess what they said about your lightning being nicer was true."

"So they talked about me, huh? Where are they anyway?"

"They're here, on the ground and probably unconscious, leaving us. So who's side are you on, Cloud Nine?"

"That's a very good question," Hades said as he picked himself up. "Which side are you on, Inigo Asher?"

"I'm on the side of Fairy Tail. If you target them, then you lose your pupil for good, which is exactly what you've done," I said adamantly. "But before we start, I need you to answer a question. You told me that you came back for me to find me, back to Rosemary Village. Was…do you know if Kagura was still there and safe?"

A sick grin spread across his face. "I really wouldn't know; I slaughtered everyone in that village and burned it to the ground. If that pest was there, she certainly isn't anymore."

I clenched my fist. "You've just sealed your fate, old man. Just for that, I'm going to personally end you!"

"So boastful!" he mocked. "But we'll see how far your words get you!" he snapped before shooting out a chain of white diamonds that approached me. I dove over it and charged straight for Hades.

"Zeus's Wrath!" I yelled as I uppercutted the man, shooting out my lightning as I did for even more damage. Hades made his hand in the form of a gun and pointed it at me before a magical bullet fired, knocking me back. Then a magic circle formed around me. I could feel its magic as I charged up mine, spreading my hands to my sides. "Thunder Devil's Shockwave!" I yelled, releasing, what else? A shockwave of white lightning around me, nullifying the magic circle before it could be used.

Laxus, it seemed, was finally ready to help out, charging the man with powerful and yet swift punches and kicks. I could tell that this guy was a pro at this. I soon joined him in pummeling the Grimoire Heart leader before I knocked him into the center of where we were.

"Thunder Devil's Rage!"

"Lightning Dragon's Roar!"

Both of our beams collided onto Hades, a massive explosion engulfing him with a shower of sparks going throughout the room as an after effect. I wiped some of the blood from my mouth as I smirked. "There! Too easy!" I exclaimed.

"Don't be so sure, boy!" Hades yelled, bursting through the smoke and shooting his chains at me, wrapping around me and pinning my arms to my torso. He threw me into the wall and then yanked me right into Laxus, sending us both crashing into the ceiling.

"Damn, not even a scratch," Laxus complained as we stood.

We were about ready to attack again when another magic circle enveloped both of us. However there wasn't just one magic circle, but instead about six or seven surrounding us from all sides and not just around our feet.

"Amaterasu: Formula 100!" Hades yelled as the magic was released. I did my best to nullify it, as did Laxus, but the blast was just too powerful, engulfing our magic until we sustained sufficient damage, the blast completely destroying the top half of the ship, leaving the storm overhead to pour down onto us. I fell to the ground, now too weak to stand, but Laxus remained adamant. "Ah, a true S-class mage I see. We'll see how long it lasts!"

"Hey, old geezer, watch where your real enemy is!" Natsu called as he stood and dashed toward him with fists blazing, however, he was soon subdued as well, struggling to stand after only one hit. I looked to Laxus, who seemed to be fighting to stay on his feet as well.

"Ha! After all of this; you fairies are in the dirt while the demon stays standing! Is this the power of Fairy Tail's newest generation? Pathetic!" he called, about to finish the job, when Laxus suddenly shot all of his remaining magic power at Natsu. At first I thought that this was killing him, but instead the lightning seemed to become one with his flames.

Natsu, now fully replenished and stronger than ever, stood, flames and lightning being released as he stared Hades down. "You've still got one fairy left standing, Hades. That's a pretty sloppy job," he said, his voice low and serious.

The two then engaged in battle. I didn't get to see much as I tried to stand myself, but I knew that Natsu was winning. I could also tell that he was wasting magic power because he was having difficulty controlling the newfound power, and was losing energy fast. As the two separated, Natsu took a deep breath. "Lightning Fire Dragon's Roar!" he yelled before an unparalleled amount of destructive power erupted and soared through the ship and to the island. The attack did an incredible amount of damage…to everything except Hades that is. Don't get me wrong, it hurt him, but not nearly enough as it was supposed to.

At first it seemed like Hades was defeated, however after everyone had already picked themselves up, he stood once again. "How strange that little fairies would do so much harm to me of all people. No matter. You do not deserve to see the One Magic that Zeref will awaken. Though, I will show you all complete and total despair before you perish," he said as he slipped off his eyepatch, revealing a glowing red eye rather than a regular one. "Behold the Demon's Eye! And with it!" he raised his hands and the world around us seemed to grow dark as shadows filled the floor around him. The shadows soon rose to become hundreds of hellish monsters. "Nemesis! With this ultimate dark magic, I can create as many demons to slaughter you as I have magic power!"

That's exactly what the monsters did, pummel us into the ground. "No…" I muttered. "I won't let it end this way!" I yelled, releasing the magic power I had left to get them off of me.

"And what will you do now, Inigo Asher? Your friends are beaten! You are out of magic power, and the _darkness_ is about to engulf you completely!" he retorted as a monster once again smashed me into the ground.

"Master, you…told me once that Lost Magic was…a gateway for heroes…to do good for the sake of doing good…so tell me! Why are you using it to commit these evil acts?!"

"Lost Magic is a tool which gives me an advantage! A tool which will allow me to gain the One Magic and with it the Ultimate Magic World!"

"Then what about everything you taught me? Was that all a lie as well?!" I demanded.

"While it's true that I believed in those petty ideals then, I have grown since then."

"Petty ideals…I won't accept that!" I yelled, once again pushing the monsters back and finding newfound strength to keep them at bay.

"But how…you can't tell me that you don't believe me! You know firsthand the uses the Lost Magic has against other forms!"

"I believe in the man who came to me and gave me a purpose," I answered, raising my right fist to the sky and forcing every single cloud in the sky to come to me, diving into my fist and then subsequently being released in a column of white light around me. "So go on, Demon! Use all of the darkness you want! But from now on, I'll be there to call forth the light which will guide my comrades to victory!" I yelled as the white light formed a circle around the entire island. "I'm gonna throw every monster you summon back into hell where you found them! I swear it!" I thrust my fist forward, using my other hand to support keeping it up and also to focus the magic power. "Devil Slayer's Ars Arcanum! Devil's Shine!" I yelled as the circle collapsed in on itself crushing all of the shadows into one small area around Hades before the light energy exploded into all of them repeatedly, completely draining them of power.

As the dust cleared, I saw that the magic energy I used in that attack, even with all of the extra power I got from the storm, was catching up and fast. My markings shot up my arm and my chest. I shut my eyes just before they coalesced into them, preventing what would've happened, however the markings had to continue, and an immense pain erupted from my arm while, simultaneously, I couldn't feel it other than the pain. It dropped limp to my side as I held it, falling to my knees and panting.

"You…actually replicated it…the Fairy's Glitter…and it drained my magic power…" Hades muttered.

"Natsu!" I yelled. "If you can hear me, then this is our only chance to beat him! Go!"

"We're way ahead of you, Cloud Nine!" Gray called.

"We'll help too!" Wendy said, with the others, even Laxus, soon joining in agreement.

I heard only a few more grunts before Natsu finished the job, ending Hades' war against Fairy Tail. Even with my eyes closed, I could tell that the sun was rising, a soft warmth filling my body and lulling me into a light sleep.

When I awoke, I found myself being healed by Wendy, though I still didn't open my eyes. "How long was I out?" I asked quietly, my arm still in an immense amount of pain.

"Only a few moments," she assured me.

"Where do my markings end?"

"I could only restore a portion of your magic power for now, but it seems your tattoos have receded to the bottom of your neck. Can you open your eyes yet?" she wondered.

"I think…they should stay closed for a little while," I answered as she helped me to a standing position. An arm wrapped around my waist and wrapped my arm around their shoulder. "And who is this?" I wondered.

"It's Gray; don't get any stupid thoughts," he said curtly.

"Ah!" Happy yelled. "More Grimoire Heart members! Coming fast!"

"Well that's not good," I said uninterestedly.

"Damn, we don't have the magic power to take them anymore…" Gray muttered next to me, keeping me standing all the while.

"Hold it!" a familiar voice yelled. "I surely hope you don't mean to hurt my kids after they already took down your leader, now are you?" Makarov threatened them. Somehow, I could feel the other Fairy Tail members were there as well.

"Master!" Erza called as I heard the running-away-footsteps of the Grimoire Heart members. "How'd you know to come for us?"

"Well, a certain white light came through camp, and we figured we'd check it out," he explained as I heard him walk up to me. "When we get back to camp, we need to talk," he said to me. I nodded.

"Inigo…" Hades choked out to my left. "Help me…"

"I have no more words for you, Demon," I answered simply.

"But you…told me that I was a second father…"

"…"

"Come help me…" he begged.

"…The man that came to my village all of those years ago…died with the ambition of an Ultimate Magic World," I said, ending my conversation.

"Makarov…if it's over…then kill me…please…"

"I won't," the old man replied bluntly.

"I…only wanted to see the origin of all magic…" Hades said.

"…It doesn't matter."

"W…what?"

"It doesn't matter where it came from; magic is alive and thriving, always changing and taking new shapes. And alongside its development is Fairy Tail, leading the charge, and it always will be," he said as we walked away from him. "That's what you taught me."

With that, we all returned to camp. I was escorted to Master Makarov's tent for when he wanted to talk and was being patched up. When that person left, I don't remember who it was, another person came in. "I see you kept your promise," Mirajane's voice entered my ears. "Can you still not open your eyes?" she questioned.

"It's probably okay now," I said. It was probably okay as soon as Wendy restored some of my strength, but I wanted to the first thing I saw to be my nakama…but if I told her that she'd either say it was too sappy or that it was creepy, so I decided to refrain. Instead, I slowly opened my eyes, seeing her figure slowly come into my vision. I smiled. "It's good to see you again, nakama."

She chuckled and little and sat across from me with a few bandages. "Now, about your arm…"

I looked down at it, and instead of the usual markings, it was pitch black, almost as if it had been permanently stained that color. It still ached intensely though, but it wasn't as bad as before. The black extended up to just past my elbow.

I sighed. "Note to self…never try something that stupid again…" I muttered as Mirajane pulled it into a makeshift cast.

"Well, on the bright side, I'm sure you look cool with your arm like this."

"Yeah, maybe I'll keep it like this even after it recovers, always in a cast until I need it," I joked, though as I elaborated, I began to grow more serious. "Actually, that might give me an edge in a fight; they won't be expecting me to be able to use my right arm so it'll totally be worth it."

"Yeah…listen, Devil Boy, you do what you want. I'm gonna go and-"

"Wait, Mira…" I called her back. "Um…I've…been thinking about things, and…I know a lot has happened since we've tried, but…"

She seemed to know what was going on. "Well? What do you wanna try?" she asked innocently, probably more to see my cheeks go red than anything else.

"Well, would you to be my-"

"Ahem," Makarov cleared his throat as he entered the tent. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Oh no," Mirajane said as she stood. "I was just fixing his arm for now. Alright, I'll go and work on Erza now," she said as she went to the exit, turning back and mouthing 'Tell me later'.

I sighed. "Geez, you old geezers always have to come at the worst times," I joked as he walked up to me, a serious expression on his face. "Um…"

"Inigo, I'm not angry with you. I want to know what happened. Was that light that I saw really what I thought it was?"

I turned stone-faced, recalling the recent memory. "Well, I saw Cana do it and I could tell that it was incredibly powerful, and I…it was a spur of the moment thing, but I managed to do it. I replicated Fairy Glitter. I'm…sorry for misusing it though…" I trailed off.

"Misusing it? My boy, protecting your comrades from harm calls for the most dire of actions. I'm more interested in that you actually had the ability to do so. That spell, Fairy Glitter, is one of Fairy Tail's three great magics; an impossibly intricate and complicated spell to use, and yet you replicated it on your first try without even being taught the original spell and having only seen it once. This is a feat that no one has ever accomplished in Fairy Tail's history. The only exception was Hades' own Grimoire Law, and even that most likely took him years to develop, basing off of my memory of his abilities."

"Um…where is this going?" I asked.

"Inigo, I've had a personal talk as well as a vision from the First Master, and she gave me an explicate order to make you an S-class mage."

"W-what?!" I yelled. "Why?"

"Unless it was under a Master's jurisdiction, normal mages shouldn't be allowed to use one of the three Great Magics, and yet you have to ability to without the First Master having gifted it to you temporarily as Cana had. The First Master told me that that automatically makes you an S-class."

"But…b-but I wasn't even one of the participants!" I argued, not exactly wanting that kind of pressure right now. "S-shouldn't you give it to Natsu? He beat Hades!"

Makarov shook his head. "My boy, would you stop arguing? This is a great day, I have given you a great honor that _you_ have earned. This wasn't some freak accident, this was by your own will that this happened, and I agree with the First Master's decision whole-heartedly."

"I…Alright…okay, I'll take it then," I answered, trying to look more sure than I felt.

"Alright, now then; what would you like your title to be?"

"Title?"

"Well, every current S-class mage has a title, so I thought maybe it was time to make it a requirement! So how about it?"

I had to think about it for a long time. I could be called the Black or Dark Fairy, but that would kind of contradict what I just said in my speech to Hades. "I want to be called…the Alter Fairy."

"Alter Fairy?"

"Yeah, like how I altered the Fairy Glitter to use for myself? And I'm part of Fairy Tail, so I'd say it fits!" I said, a grin on my face as I was happy with the new title.

"Alright then, the Alter Fairy it is; our newest S-class mage!"

I stood, now suddenly filled with life at having a new title for myself and the battle having just sunk in as over. We both walked outside of the tent, and immediately I was swarmed by Team Natsu.

"What'd gramps want with you?" Natsu asked.

"Was it because of how you beat Hades' monsters by yourself?" Lucy asked.

"Did he reprimand you for misusing a version of Fairy Glitter?" Erza asked.

I managed to hold them back, making a bit more distance between me and them. "Um…he…kinda made me Fairy Tail's newest S-class mage…" I admitted, scratching the back of my head while chuckling nervously.

"He what?!" Natsu and Gray both yelled, fire and ice swarming around them.

"Alright, then we'll kick your ass and get the title ourselves!" Gray yelled as I hopped over his ice shard and onto a small thundercloud, fleeing the scene.

"Hey! Get the hell back here!" Natsu yelled after me as I flew around the camp with them following me, causing the entire camp to roar with laughter at the situation.

Once everything calmed down, and by that I mean Erza kicked their asses, I saw Cana go off after Gildarts who had left to get food. I followed them and found them having a happy reunion before returning to camp.

It was then that I started looking for Mirajane, ready to finally continue our conversation. I found her strolling through the camp. "Mira!" I called, stopping her.

"Yes?" she wondered.

"Hey, so about earlier. I mean…" my words turned to jelly. "Look, I was thinking that-"

"You better not be about to do what I think you are," Elfman threatened as he eavesdropped. The threat drew a crowd, the whole of Fairy Tail surrounded us.

"Jeez, would you all buzz off?!" I yelled, though they remained adamant to watch. "Bah! Forget all of you. Mirajane Strauss, would you like to be my-"

"A dragon!" Lucy yelled.

"Damn it, Lucy! I was in the middle of-"

"No, a dragon!" she yelled again, pointing up into the sky.

"Dragon?!" Natsu questioned. "Where?!" he yelled, soon finding it and having a silent realization.

The black dragon approached the island as starting tearing apart the forest near us, sending tremors all throughout the ground. "Get back!" Makarov order as he activated his Titan-on-steroids Magic to grow as large as the beast.

"But gramps! This is what our magic was made for!" Natsu called, though Laxus held him back.

Gildarts was awed at the creatures. "Acnologia…" he muttered.

"What?" I wondered, though he didn't answer. Makarov attempted to overpower the dragon and it seemed he was on even ground for now.

"Get everyone back to the guild!" he yelled at us. "Hurry!" his voice echoed throughout the island.

"But Gramps!" Natsu argued, though Laxus grabbed a hold of his wrist, with tears streaming down his eyes.

"You heard him, Salamander. We've got to get out of here!" he yelled as he tugged and started running, with the rest of us following in suite.

We got to the shore, though we could still see their massive forms duking it out. Natsu wrestled free of Laxus, his own tears falling at having abandoned his Master. "What are you doing?! We can't just leave him here!"

"He gave us an order," Lucy reasoned.

"I don't care! I'm not leaving anyone behind, especially not to a dragon!" he yelled as he ran back. The rest of us were still in shock. I shook my head.

"I can't run away again, not when I can help to stop my comrade from dying!" I yelled, chasing after Natsu. Soon, I heard the rest of Fairy Tail's footsteps following us. We reached the dragon, who had overpowered Makarov and was now about to kill him, when Natsu gave a ferocious punch with his Dragon Slayer magic active. It should've hurt the beast, but it only distracted it. "I won't make the mistake of running away again!" I yelled, leaping up into the air and giving my own punch, however ineffective it may have been. The rest of Fairy Tail joining in on the attack. Everyone except Gildarts that is.

I was thrown away from the action and caught by Gildarts. "Why aren't you helping?!" I demanded. "Your Master is in trouble!"

"I…I've met this dragon before, and…it isn't using half of the power it used on me…" he muttered solemnly, all but saying we had no chance.

Sure enough, the dragon soon got bored of us and flew high into the air over Tenrou Island. I soon realized what he was doing. "It's about to roar!" I yelled.

"How do we stop it?!" Elfman questioned.

"We can…" I wracked my brain trying to think.

"I can convert everyone's magic power into a shield," Freed said. "Everyone join hands."

We all did so in a circle, Gildarts, Cana, Erza, Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Juvia, Mirajane, Elfman, Evergreen, Freed, Bickslow, Laxus, Makarov, Pantherlily, Happy, Carla, Wendy, Gajeel, Levy, and I all joined our hands together, though I couldn't have anyone hold my right because of the…you know. Mirajane was on my left and Lucy was on my right. I clenched my teeth.

"Just in case we don't make it through, I have to do this!" I called, turning to me Mirajane, grabbing her shoulder, and pulling her in until our lips were pressed against each other in a kiss.

"It's about time," Gray said across from us.

I could feel her lips try to curl into a smile. We both let go, our cheeks a tint of pink before turning back to the circle and gripping hands.

"For Fairy Tail!" we all yelled as the blast was released. I had a smile on my face. A content smile, happy that I got to be with the people I loved when the time came, because I just knew…

We weren't going to make it past that day.

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hey guys, so...I think I'm gonna take a break for a few days. I already have about five chapters in storage for when I come back, but I've got other commitments, sorry.**

 **Anyway, the OC submission is still open; visit my profile for details, so yeah...um...look forward to the next chapter I guess, and I hope you all enjoyed reading this!**


	17. 17 I Guess We're Back

A soft breeze rolled in as I awoke from the bad dream. I had joined this wizarding guild and we were blown up by a dragon. Man, am I glad that's over…or maybe it wasn't.

Another's hand was interlaced with mine and I could feel that they were leaning on me, and I was leaning on them as well, their soft white locks tickling my chin slightly as I brought my head up a little.

My arm was held relatively parallel to the ground through a makeshift cast, but I could tell that it was still black. Wait, black? From what?

That's when the memories came flooding back, of Tenrou Island, of Fairy Tail, of Mirajane, and of the Dragon that attacked us. I sighed, looking around and seeing everyone else who was on the island with Mirajane and I. I released her hand and shook her a bit, ever so slightly to wake her up. "Mira," I said, my voice raspy from not having used it in who knows how long.

She stirred awake with a moan, lifting her head off of my chest and looking up at me for a minute before realizing the position we were in. Immediately she shot up, causing me to fall down. "Oh, I mean, I'm so sorry. You were injured, I don't know what I was thinking to-"

"Mira, it's fine. It didn't bother me," I said as she helped me stand. "I'm more interested in why we're here."

Mirajane knocked on her head a couple of times, trying to think back. "I remember…we beat Hades, you made S-class, and then…a dragon came and we tried to stop it. Where is it now?"

I shook my head. "I'm not sure. Maybe Freed's magic worked, and-"

"I was the one who protected you," a high pitched voice came from behind me. I whirled around, startled by the new voice. I saw a young girl with long and flowing blond hair who was also barefoot. "My name is Mavis Vermillion, and I was Fairy Tail's First Master."

If I had a drink in my mouth, I would have promptly spit it out. "What!" I yelled, waking everyone else up. "Fairy Tail was run by a little kid?!"

"Do not mistake my appearance for my age, and besides, stranger things have happened in this world; like a certain mage replicating Fairy Glitter on his first try," she eyed me. She obviously didn't approve of me using it. "Without my permission I might add."

I scratched the back of my head nervously as Makarov came to. "First Master?"

"Hello, Third Master," she greeted with a warm smile. "How was your seven yearlong nap?"

"Seven years? You can't be serious," Gray said as he woke up and overheard.

"Let me explain from the beginning. I was watching you as an ethereal body as Acnologia, the black dragon, attacked you. When it roared, I used your bonds and feelings for one another and converted them into magical energy, forming one of Fairy Tail's three Great Magics, Fairy Sphere, an ultimate defense spell that protects the guild from anything."

"Even against time it seems," Erza commented. Mavis eyed me once again.

"I hope you don't go using this all willy-nilly like Fairy Glitter," she threatened.

"Hey, come on, First Master, I didn't see it, so…" I trailed off. I soon regained my composure. "Is what you said true? Are we really seven years into the future?"

"Yes, unfortunately it's a side-effect of the magic, it put you into a stasis for that period of time, during which no one has seen or heard from you. Until today that is," she said as footsteps were heard from over yonder, and a large group of people approached us.

Many of them were in tears at the sight of us. "You're back!" they called as they rushed us, hugging and pretty much violating us out of sheer joy.

After that happy reunion, we travelled to their boat (I asked them to kill me, but they only knocked me out for it) and headed off to the mainland. Already we saw the difference seven years makes. The port had grown since we left, and when we actually got back to Magnolia, we found out that Fairy Tail wasn't the only guild there anymore. In fact, we were second-rate compared to the newbies, Twilight Ogre.

A commotion was going on in the guild's building, now reduced to a small tavern. I only saw a flash before we went to work. Natsu bashed the main guy while Gray and I trashed the other two.

"Hey guys," Natsu said, waving to the remaining members. "We're home!"

Everyone in the guild was left speechless. "You're home!" they cried, once again violating us. Immediately the guild was filled with commotion, happy drinking with Cana and I, celebration throughout, and of course the obligatory brawl which I opted out of.

Makarov then called Erza and Mirajane to go with him to someplace. "Where're you three going?" I wondered, stopping them at the door.

"Just to the Twilight Ogre guild hall," Makarov answered.

"Mind if I come with?"

"No," Erza stopped me. "You're still recovering, so you're staying here."

"Jeez, ruin the fun why don't you," I complained.

"Well, look on the bright side; when we get back, we can…" Mirajane started as she moved her lips to just next to my ear, finishing what she said before pulling away, pecking my cheek, and giving an innocent smile.

"You know, sometimes I wonder if you've changed at all," I said back. I turned around and waved them off before returning to Cana, who was currently being picked up by her father.

"Hey, put me down you old pervert!" she demanded of him.

"But I want _everyone_ to know that we're related after eighteen years of rejection!" the Ace answered, rubbing their cheeks together.

"Ah, I said get off! Your beard is too itchy!" she complained as everyone around us laughed.

"Ah, I missed this guild…" Macao said to my left.

A couple of hours passed by and Makarov and the girls came back. "Hey, Laxus!" Natsu yelled above everyone, interrupting mine and Mira's quality time. No, we weren't doing that, you sick minded people. "Where is he?!"

"I think he's with the Thunder God Tribe in the park," someone replied, not thinking much of it.

"Alright! Time for a rematch after all of this time!"

"Yeah right, he's leagues ahead of you," I said to him between kisses.

He stormed up to us and separated us, getting up into my face. "You wanna bet on it?" he threatened as he pushed me back a little.

"Yeah, I do," I said as I pushed him back, our magic being released as our rival-levels grew. For a moment I looked back to Mirajane. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course not," she said as she straightened her hair. "I think it'll be…a bonding experience for you two."

We both smirked. "Alright!" I exclaimed. "I've got fifty thousand Jewels on Laxus!" I yelled as we all ran out to the man.

We soon found him mingling with the Thunder God Tribe. "Hey, Laxus!" Natsu yelled, stomping his foot into the ground. "I've got a bone to pick with you!"

"Yeah?" the older man asked boredly. He then looked to me. "You here for that too?"

I held my hand up. "Nah, I'm here to see the result," I explained.

"Hey! Pay attention! It's time to see who the strongest Dragon Slayer is once and for all!"

"Strongest Dragon Slayer?" Gajeel asked as he eavesdropped. "That's obviously me."

"Yeah right. Anyway, Laxus, we're fighting right now!"

"Whatever," Laxus said, agreeing to it by slipping his coat off.

"Laxus, are you sure?" Freed asked him.

"Please, I need to put these two Dragon Infants in their place, and I'll do so with my own hands."

A crowd had gathered in a large circle around them, and Mirajane and the others from the guild had caught up as well, Mira standing next to me. "I'll deal with you after I beat Natsu, got it?" he said to Gajeel.

Both of them released their magic power, power which seemed to impress the others, but I only scoffed. Laxus wasn't using half of what he gave Natsu back on Tenrou Island, and that was after he already used a lot of it.

Natsu charged at Laxus, fist blazing…only to be smashed unconscious to the ground in one non-magic-amplified punch to the skull. Natsu was left twitching on the ground as Laxus turned to where Gajeel used to be until the fight was over, but now he was all but gone.

"What a disappointment," Laxus muttered.

"I agree," I said as I grinned, waving to Natsu. "But this means I get my fifty thousand Jewels, right?"

"That was anticlimactic," Levy said. "I should probably go look for Gajeel, but before I do, I'd like to see which lightning is stronger, Devil Slayer or Dragon Slayer."

The crowd murmured their agreement. I looked to Laxus. "You up for it?"

"Depends, do I get paid my sum for winning your bet for you?"

"Maybe if you're lucky," I said as I stepped into the circle, both of us releasing our magic power once again, Laxus this time going all out to keep up with mine. We both held an arm out to each other. "On three, we'll use our strongest blast and see whose goes through," I said. He nodded. "One…two…" I stopped, noticing something strange as I stopped, put my hand down, and contained my magic. Laxus soon did the same, realizing what I did.

"Why'd they stop?" someone asked as I walked up to Laxus and tapped on his chest, grinning at the crowd.

"Are you kidding? He'd wipe the floor with me," I admitted.

"Although he could eat my lightning, and I most likely couldn't do the same for his," Laxus also admitted. He slapped his hand on my shoulder. "Alright, I'll be expecting my share of forty-nine thousand for your loss to me whenever you get the payment," he said with a rare grin before walking away with the Thunder God Tribe, leaving me heart-broken over my lost cash.

Mirajane walked up to me. "Hey, don't get so down, Inigo, you'll have enough for a house of your own someday."

"Screw the house! I wanted to eat for weeks at expensive restaurants!" I exclaimed, garnering a laugh from the rest of the people who weren't looking for Gajeel.

"Don't worry; I've been told I'm a heck of a cook myself," Mirajane assured me as we returned to the guild.

However, our fun soon ran out as Gildarts came up from the basement stone-faced, handing me a slip of paper. "Hey, Ace, what's with you?"

"Nothing," he answered. "I'm off; give that to Fairy Tail's Sixth Master when he comes back up," he said before walking off, leaving us confused.

"Sixth Master?" Mirajane wondered as I opened the piece of paper.

"Um…it says that Gildarts accepts his role as the Fifth Guild Master of Fairy Tail, but…then he just reinstates Laxus into the guild and hands the position back to Makarov to be the Sixth Master," I explained. "It also says something about the Grand Magic Games and being stronger."

After a minute Makarov came up from the basement. "Where's Gildarts?"

"He left," I told him, handing him to piece of paper. The old man read it. "Congratulations, Sixth Master."

Makarov sighed. "Ever afraid of commitment…alright then, it's settled."

"What is?" Mirajane asked him.

"Fairy Tail is competing in the Grand Magic Games."

"What is that?"

"It's a tournament for Legal Guilds," Mirajane explained. "It's held every year to decide who the strongest guild in Fiore is. Although…"

"What's wrong?"

"We haven't been around to increase in power for over seven years," she commented.

"Which probably means even our strongest members' magic power is lacking in comparison to others," Makarov added.

"Well, we have you right? You're one of the Ten Wizard Saints, aren't you?"

"Guild Masters aren't allowed to participate."

"Well…when do they start?"

"In…jeez, a little over three months."

I stood. "Alright then, better get to training. I'll round everyone up for a formal announcement and then everyone can get ready and meet at…wherever the Games are held."

"Crocus."

"Yeah, that."

With that, I exited the guild hall, rounded everyone up, and got the announcement going. I immediately went to Erza.

"Hey there!" I greeted. "Wanna train with me?"

"What about your girlfriend?" she asked back.

"Yeah, what about me?" Mirajane dropped in. "Don't think I'm tough enough for ya?"

"No it's just…I want to get better with a sword; it's kind of what I use if I do end up using a weapon and…do you know how to use a sword, Mira?"

"Well, no…but…"

Erza put a hand on my shoulder. "Inigo, if you want to come with me and Natsu's group, then you're welcome, but think hard about it."

I nodded and turned to Mira. "…Do you mind? Because, I mean, if you do, then I'll gladly go with you too, spend some more…quality time together, you know?"

She gave a smile. "Do what'll help the guild most, Inigo. I'll be happy with that."

I grinned and pecked her on the forehead. "You're the best, you know that? Alright, before we leave, I need to find Cana. I need a favor."

I soon found her mingling with Elfman. "Hey there," she greeted. "Do you wanna-"

"No, I've got a group, but I need you to fashion a two cards for me."

"Really? And what would they be?"

"Communication cards. So I can keep in touch with Mira for the next three months."

"Well…why don't you just learn telepathy from a book?"

"I…" I scratched the back of my head. "I hadn't thought of that…alright, never mind then. Have fun, you two!" I quickly went to the library and picked up a few books on the subject before going over to Erza. "Whenever you're ready."

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hey guys, we're back I guess. Anyway, this was basically just a transition into the Grand Magic Games arc, mixing a littl of th eKey of the Starry Sky arc in there two with the Laxus/Natsu rematch. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed an I'll see you guys next time!**

 **P.S. the OC submission is still open; details are on my profile**


	18. 18 Revisit

Alright, so just a quick rundown of what went down in the past three months, or rather…well, it was more like a week for us for one reason specifically, but in that week, I managed to get telepathy down to the point where, with enough effort, I could communicate with Mirajane, who was off training with Elfman and Cana, and effortlessly communicate with the group that I was training with, namely Erza as the rest were off training their specific selves and we were practicing together.

It wasn't all fun though, as at night, since we got back from Tenrou Island actually, I'd had nightmares, the same one every night, I am forced to watch Hades destroy my village and slaughter everyone there. Call me paranoid or say I'm living in the past, but it was bothering me, and I told Erza in advance that I'd be leaving early to go pay my respects and hopefully get past it.

Still, a week in, Lucy got a call from her spirit named Virgo that the Celestial Spirit World is in danger. We of course agreed to help and when we got there, what did we find? Complete and total chaos.

…Alright, it was actually a gigantic celebration hosted by the Celestial Spirit King. It was fun and all, but the entire time all I could think about was training…that is until I got shit-faced drunk and started laughing the whole time.

Anyway, that was great, and when we got back, we felt refreshed for the next three months. "Hey, I wonder what the time difference is between the human and spirit worlds," Lucy said. "Maybe we can train for longer in there than we can out here."

"Actually," Virgo started. "It's the opposite; that one day cost you around three months in your time," she said, causing us all to drop to the ground, completely hopeless. "I believe you have a week and a half before your event starts," she answered before leaving for the spirit world once again.

We all sighed, disappointed. Erza was the first to recover. "Alright; new plan. We'll go through hellish training to get the improvement we would've had at the end of the three months normally, got it? Everyone up! We need to get moving, and-" she was interrupted by a bird landing on her head, a bird holding a note.

I snatched it from her before she could read it, haven't slight difficulty opening it with only one hand as I actually chose to keep my arm in the cast just to…I don't know, make myself look distinct or something. I forget the reasons I listed before, alright?!

"Meet at…the bridge in the West Woods…signed…nothing," I muttered.

"Who would ask to meet somewhere and not leave a name?" Lucy wondered.

I shrugged. "Might as well follow it. It seems like the best thing to do," I said, starting off in the direction of the bridge, with the others soon following. Once I came to it, I stopped as I saw three hooded figures. "Are you the people who asked us to come here?" The main one nodded their head. "Well, are you going to tell us why?"

The main one nodded to the others and they all slipped off their hoods. My eyes widened as I saw the blue-haired demon standing before me. I clenched my fist.

"Jellal…" I muttered, barely able to contain my rage at the memories from my nightmares that just kept coming up. "What the hell are you doing out of prison?!" I demanded, having to be held back by Lucy and Gray.

"These two were the cause of that," he explained calmly. "Together, we are Crime Sorcière; an independent guild tasked with destroying Zeref and all Dark Guilds we come across."

"Like hell you are! That's probably a front; you're up to something, I know you are!" I accused.

"Whoa man, calm down," Gray tried to reason with me.

"I'd heard that you were in the area, and I also know that the Grand Magic Games are afoot once again."

"Yeah?"

"Well, over the years, we've been picking up strange magical readings form the Games, but because of our status, we aren't allowed anywhere near the source. I understand that Fairy Tail is a little behind on magic power, so I'm offering you a deal."

"What kind of deal?" Erza asked.

Jellal motioned to his friend, who nodded to Gray knowingly. "My magic, Arc of Time, has an advanced spell that unlocks your Second Origin. Normally, mages only use one magic container within their body; the Second Origin is another one, containing vast amounts of dormant power that you can choose to use at your leisure."

"So…it'll make us stronger?" Erza asked.

"Exactly," the pink-haired one stated. "By the way, my name is Meredy, and the Arc of Time woman is Ultear."

Natsu and company were ecstatic about the power boost, but I was still skeptical. "Erza," I said. "Do you trust-" she was gone, and so was Jellal for that matter.

"They left to have 'quality' time," Happy explained, leaving the decision up to the other S-class here, me.

I sighed. "Look, I don't exactly trust Jellal…but we kinda need this if it works," I said once everyone had gone quiet, awaiting my decision. "Go ahead and do it on me…just to be safe."

Ultear nodded and held her hand out to my chest. "I don't blame you for the paranoia," she said as a magic circle formed between my chest and her hand. "This is going to hurt; just to warn you," she said with a sly smile. Not a malicious one, just one that said they were "waiting for someone to fall for their prank" kind of smile. Or maybe one that just knows what'll come next.

Suddenly, red runes appeared all over my body, causing pain to swell all over…but it wasn't _that_ bad. The thing that hurt the worst was this hand that came out of my chest, as if it were my Second Origin bursting open. I felt different, yet not so. The feeling was one I'll never be able to describe, but I just knew that as this was going on, I was getting more powerful, able to do more with my magic, and yet I forced most of it to stay dormant, to be released when I wanted to release it.

I breathed deeply, in and out to fight through the pain. "Well?" Gray began. "Is it working?"

"Um…yeah, I'd say so. Go ahead and give it a try," I said as I wiped sweat from my brow. With a wave of her hand, Ultear did the same for the others, but it seemed they didn't have as high a pain tolerance as I did, and they immediately started writing around in agony on the ground. "Oh come on guys, it's not that bad…"

"Are you kidding?!" Natsu demanded. "How the hell are you still standing?!"

"Well…I've felt much worse in just my arm when I overused my magic, so…that may have something to do with it," I said, looking to Ultear. "How long does this last?"

"Yours should be done any second now," she said. "For them…well…we'll see."

With that, almost as if on cue, the pain was gone, and I could breathe a sigh of relief that it was over. "Jeez, don't know how much longer I could've kept that up. I mean, I've felt worse, but never for that long and so constant," I complained as I watched the others writhe and waited for Erza to come back. Once she did the same Second Origin Release was used on her, but surprisingly, she never acknowledged the pain associated with it. Even I gave her a weird look, because it was tough to bear after a while, and she took it like a champ, or maybe she was just putting on a tough girl act; it wouldn't surprise me.

"Now, about the deal. We've held up our end, and now it's your turn."

"Well, what do you want?" Gray questioned. "You never told us before you and Erza went off to do who know wha-" he never finished because Erza punched him into the ground.

"Right, about that; we aren't allowed to investigate in the inner city area of Crocus, so we're asking Fairy Tail to investigate instead. We'll be nearby and able to be spoken to, so giving us word shouldn't be a problem. Just tell us anything you find."

Erza nodded. "Will do, and thank you for dropping by; we really needed the help."

As Crime Sorcière left, I sighed. "How long do we have? A week and a half? That should be enough time," I said to myself.

"Time for what, Cloud Nine?" Natsu demanded, expecting a challenge or something.

"He's going to pay respects at his hometown," Erza said. "Where was it again? I never caught the name."

"Rosemary Village," I answered. "It was attacked by some cultists who took Simon, almost took Kagura too, but this one girl saved her. I'd imagine they were the same cultists who took you, given that you knew and were friends with Simon yourself."

"Rosemary…" Erza muttered, as if realizing something. "I…was born in Rosemary Village, and…I hid a little girl the night I was taken."

"So…you're saying you were the one who helped Kagura that day?" I asked, not all that surprised to be honest. At this point, nothing could come as a shock to me. "Well, it looks like we have a history then."

"What of the village after the attack?" Erza demanded. "Was the girl, Kagura, safe?"

"Safe? Relax, I lived with her since I was orphaned at age three. Simon took me in, and when he was taken, I got put in charge of running their inn, with Little Kagura as my helper. Then Precht came and taught me magic and then we got the news that Simon had been killed, and then I left to track down his killer, Jellal. Then…Hades said he destroyed the village," I finished, my voice growing more and more somber as I went along in that explanation. I took a deep breath. "So, do you want to come with me then; it's your village too."

Erza shook her head. "No…I don't remember it enough to call it my village."

I nodded, waving them off. "Alright, then I'll be off. See you guys at the Grand Magic Games in…"

"Crocus."

"Right, there. See ya," I said as I started jogging toward the station. "Mira, can you hear me?" I asked, activating my rudimentary telepathy.

"Ow! Hey! Inigo, you just distracted me during a sparring session," her voice was heard in my ears.

"Listen, could you meet me back in Magnolia in two days?"

"Well, I mean…sure, I guess I could," she answered. "Hm? Oh nothing, it's Inigo," she explained to whoever was hearing her talk to herself. "No, silly, he's using telepathy…when did he learn it? I don't know, when did he?"

"According to your time, about three months ago," I answered.

"My time?"

"Well…let's just say I've had the equivalent of a three month long hangover; completely wasted time. The Celestial Spirit King invited us to a party, but didn't tell us that time in the celestial spirit world moves really fast, so one day in there equated to three months here."

"Ah, I see," she said. "Alright, well, Mr. Hangover, I'll see you in two days. Do you need anything while I'm on my way?"

"Um…tissues?" I joked, though I knew that the joking wouldn't last long. I could tell that it was going to be somber.

Back in Magnolia, in finally dawned on me what I was about to do, and I immediately got depressed. I didn't want to do this…but I guess it was the right thing to do, right? That village gave me everything, after all.

Soon after I arrived, Mirajane and Cana came by. "Hey there, Mr. I Couldn't Hold My Beer In," Cana patted my back with a grin.

"Cana," I stopped her. "Not now."

"Well, what's up? Why'd you want us down here?" she questioned.

"I just…needed some friends with me…when I go back…" I answered. They seemed to understand with just that.

Mirajane took her hand in mine. "Well, friends are what you've got, so let's go."

I nodded, starting to head off in the direction of the village. It took us a few days to get there, and when we did, it had started raining, not exactly helping my mood.

Rosemary Village was a little village with only a few houses and an inn, or at least that's what it used to be. We came over the hill leading to it and then it hit me.

Everything was in pieces, all of the buildings reduced to rubble, cold, lifeless hands on the ground, fallen from when they made one last plea for help as the roof crushed them.

I didn't realize that I was shaking until Cana put her hand on my shoulder to stop me, but I didn't. I couldn't.

I felt my control over my emotions finally slip out of my grasp, my anger rising as I realized that I could've stopped this if I had only stayed. If I hadn't left on that idiotic crusade, then Hades would've found me here, I would've went with him and he would've left the village alone.

I clenched my fists, feeling my magic power also go out of control, fueled both by my rage and the storm around us and I yelled, holding my head as I felt a power I hadn't felt in ages erupt from me, my skin seemingly breaking off like glass shattering and falling as what was left was a pale color of skin.

My hair grew and turned a sleek silver color, my nails grew into claws, and my teeth into fangs. My eyes turned from a gold iris with white around it to gold with black around it. Devil's wing's protruded from my back, and lining the outside of my body were constant streaks of white lightning. My body was still shaking out of rage as I dashed forward, smashing into more pieces the demolished building in front of me.

I smashed the building over and over again before holding my palm out to another building and blasting it apart with a lightning bolt, doing the same to three other buildings, proceeding to go over and smash them apart with my fists as well, all while screaming at the top of my lungs in an effort to rid myself of these dark feelings.

Mirajane and Cana watched on, Cana about to try and stop me, but Mira held her back, saying that this was something that they couldn't interfere with. Finally, I came to what used to be Kagura, Simon, and I's inn, about to smash it to bits as well, but then its sign caught my eye. I remembered when Kagura and I, still young at the time, made that sign.

Tears burst from my eyes as I dropped to my hands and knees, my power draining from my body. "Kagura…please be safe…" I sobbed to myself until I could cry no more.

I took a deep breath as I stood about twenty minutes later. I wiped away the tears that still hung from my face and walked back to the two girls, who were still watching me. Mirajane slowly and intimately wrapped her arms around me, pulling me in close to comfort me, and it did. My breathing returned to normal.

"…Let's go. We're going to be late," I said to them, taking Mira's hand in my own and starting to walk away from the village.

We elected to take a train to Crocus as it was faster than on foot; hell it would've taken us about a month to walk there, so that was definitely out of the question.

On the train ride, it was initially quiet, no one talking, so I feel asleep.

When I woke, I found that I was laying across the seat, my head resting on Mirajane's lap. I heard Cana and Mira talking to each other, and my nosy-ass wanted to listen to what they had to say.

"Jeez, that guy sleeps like a log," Cana commented, with me figuring that I must've just fallen onto Mira's lap and that's what woke me up, with my theory soon confirmed. "Even after falling onto you he's still asleep, and after four hours too."

"Well, he's had a tough day I'd say. He deserves it."

"Eh, I guess so…" they both remained silent for a moment. "I still don't see what you see in him though."

Mira laughed. "I guess his good traits are a bit buried, aren't they?"

" _What was that supposed to mean, Mira?"_ I thought to myself.

"He hurt you pretty badly in the past though, didn't he?"

"He did, yes," she answered, running her hand through my hair periodically. "However, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, and so far it's paid off."

"Oh yeah, you two are nakama, right? That's a pretty high honor, isn't it? I mean, we're all family, but being a nakama with someone is like…even closer than that."

"Yup. For a whole summer I stuck with him, and then the summer after that too. We got really close, but we were both…naïve back then."

"You were scary back then is more what I'd say," Cana joked, causing them both to laugh a little.

"He won't leave me. I know that. Even if this 'Kagura' comes along, I don't think he'll have to make a hard decision."

If Kagura came back suddenly, I'd probably want to spend a week with her at least just to catch up. In her time, if she's still alive, it's been twelve years since we parted.

"You think so?" Cana wondered. "He seemed as close if not closer with her than with you; I mean…that came out wrong. What I mean is that he's known her longer than you; they were like family, weren't they?"

"Then I hope it stays that way. It's strange; I feel bad, being so selfish as to keep him all for myself. I'm sure you're jealous at least. You _did_ pick him as your partner for the S-class trial," she teased.

"A mistake I won't make again. The bastard stole the promotion from me, I swear it. And what the hell do you mean by that?!" she snapped.

I cracked a smile, potentially blowing my cover, but they just thought…

"Aw, look; he must be having a good dream," Cana teased, flicking my nose. "Probably involving you, him, and a bed," she said lasciviously.

"W-what? No, I mean…he wouldn't be that…s-shut up!" Mira sounded exasperated. "Oh…" she moaned, taking her hand out of my hair and probably burying her face in it.

With that, I managed to fall into yet another sleep, my spirits brightened by their little exchange, finally ready for the Grand Magic Games.

 **Author's Note:**

 **Alright, I had a lot of trouble writing this chapter because...well, to be completely honest I never really watched the episode(s) that detailed this part of the story. I skipped the Key of the Starry Sky arc and then picked it back up like on the second day of the Games, so...anyway yeah, go ahead and tell me how I did if you want, if I got any details wrong then I'd be happy to fix them.**

 **Anyway, other than that, OC submission is still open, so go ahead check my profile for that, but yeah, I hope you're all looking forward to the actual Games where we can finally see other guilds play a part in the story and...maybe even have a little reunion.**

 **Whatever, see you guys then!**


	19. 19 First Day

Right on time, we arrived in Crocus, with Makarov pacing the street leading up to this huge colosseum. When he saw us three approach. "Ah, good, you three made it. I've already chosen you three for teams, so it's good that you actually showed up," he said as we walked up to him.

I scratched the back of my head. "Well, I had some things to clear up before I dove headfirst into the Games, so…anyway, I thought only one team could enter."

"Well, there are 113 teams in the preliminary event, and I doubt that there are that many guilds in Fiore. Each guild is allowed two teams. Now, whether or not those teams make it is another story entirely."

"Alright, so which team are we on?" Cana asked.

"Alright, five members per team. Initially, Inigo was supposed to replace Wendy because she hasn't shown up yet, but Elfman offered instead, so you'll be the reserve member for Team A. Mirajane, you'll be the fifth member for Team B, and Cana, you'll be the reserve member for Team B. Understood? Any questions?"

"Um…" Mira and I looked to each other. "Any way we can be on the same team?"

"Sorry kiddos, no can do. You two are venereal enough back at the guild. You two in the same sleeping room would just be a hassle. Anyway, look on the bright side, whichever team gets the most points gets to do whatever they want to one person from the other team."

"Oh, I like that idea," Mira said with a sly smile.

I sighed. "Alright, well, kick ass for me Mira," I said as she went off to start participating. "So where's the rest of Team A? Who are the participating members anyway?"

"Let's see…on Team A there's Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Erza, and Elfman. On Team B we have…Gajeel, Laxus, Mirajane of course, Juvia, and…Mystogan."

"Mystogan?" I gave him a confused look. "Um…" I thought back. "Mystogan stayed in Edolas, didn't he?"

"He did, but we're having his counterpart take his place for the sake of winning."

"And his counterpart is…"

"Jellal Fernandes," I pinched my nose as he said it, half-expecting the answer even as I asked. "Look, Inigo, I know you have some bad blood with him, but you must understand that-"

"No, it's fine," I interrupted. "If my Master trusts him, then I will too…for now. Once the Games are over, I'm not letting him go anywhere near Fairy Tail. I hope that's fine."

"It is," he replied. "Alright, well, the preliminaries will start soon. We should head to Domus Flau, the stadium in which it's held."

"Actually," I stopped him. "I think I'll stay in the city and look for Wendy, if that's alright with you."

"Well…I'm sure it's fine. Go ahead, and bring her right to me once you find her. I'll have a few words for that girl," he warned as he walked off with Cana.

With that, I started exploring the massive city of Crocus, and almost immediately came to a structure that gave me the thought of fighting in it. I don't know, something about its pillars and such with it being completely open to the outside, like the Parthenon almost. It was like it was made to be fought in.

Maybe then it was fate that this was where I would find the little Sky Dragon Slayer with her Exceed friend collapsed in front of the building. I shook her little. "Wendy. Hey Wendy wake up, will ya?" I said, to no avail. I did the same with Carla, but got the same result, nothing. I turned Wendy over and put my ear to her chest, feeling a faint pulse, but it was definitely weak. I sighed, made a thundercloud for them, sat on it myself, and flew off toward the arena, stopping just outside.

I grabbed the girls and headed to the infirmary, guided by little signs all through the halls.

When I arrived, no one was there, so I laid them both up in a bed, made sure they were kept warm and went up to my guild who were watching the first event, or the preliminaries. It appeared that three guilds had already arrived.

I walked over to Cana. "So what's going on here?" I asked her, startling her.

"Ah! Jeez, Inigo, don't scare me like that!" she snapped before sighing. "The preliminary event is in a holographic city all folded up and constantly changing; the teams has to get all five of their members to the end and into the stadium , the first eight get into the actual Games," she explained.

I nodded before going over to Makarov. "Hey, Master, I found Wendy, but she's in bad shape," I told him. "She needs medical attention I think."

"What's wrong with her?"

"Her heartbeat is faint and she won't wake up. I put her in the infirmary, but there wasn't anyone there."

"I see. I'll contact Porlyusica right away," he said as he stepped aside to do so.

Now, I could watch the preminaries end, all of the teams having appeared. In eighth place was Fairy Tail A, seventh we had a guild called Quatro Cerberus. Sixth we had Mermaid Heel, and leading the charge was…

I took in a sharp breath upon seeing her, wielding the same sword I gave to her all of those years ago as I listened to the announcers. "Sixth place! Mermaid Heel! Led by Kagura Mikazuchi!"

Cana walked up to me, patting my shoulder. "Hey, look at that! Your friend is alive and well!" she claimed, though I wasn't so sure. I felt a strange presence coming from her, one that I knew would cause trouble.

"Y…yeah," I agreed half-heartedly, eyeing her cautiously. It seemed she noticed my look, as she glared back to me, at first with wide eyes, but then another look that said that we would need to talk, to which I agreed.

Anyway, back with the teams: in fifth was Blue Pegasus. Fourth was Lamia Scale, led by the wizard saint Jura of all people. Part of me questioned whether that was fair, but then again it wasn't really my decision, so I didn't think much of it after the fact. Third place was Raven Tail, which gave Makarov a bit of a troubled look. In second was Team Fairy Tail B, and in first was Team Sabertooth.

At first the crowd was shocked to see another Fairy Tail Team, but the commentators stated that every guild had the right to two teams, and if both made it to the finals, then it was their privilege to have both participate.

With a sigh of relief, all eight final teams were announced and the first day of the Games could begin. The event portion: Hidden. The participating member will be transported to a replica city where clones of the other competitors are waiting. Attack a competitor, get a point, attack a clone, lose a point, get attacked, lose a point. The one with the most wins and the rest are ranked.

As we watched the match, we were greeted by a familiar face. "Yay! Go Fairy Tail!" a high-pitched voice entered our ears as we turned our heads and expressed utter shock as the sight of her.

"F-First Master?!" Makarov exclaimed. "W-Why…why are you here?"

The girl shrugged. "I got bored on Tenrou Island. I came to watch the guild win! And don't worry, only those with the guild mark can see me, so it's not like people will freak out over a little ghost like me," she said with a smile, quite a stark contrast to how she treated me back on the island…although…she _did_ make me S-class, so I guess it evens out.

Anyway, as the event started, I took my leave in an effort to find Kagura. I wanted to talk to her at least once before the Games ended, and the sooner it was the better.

However, no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't find her. "She's probably with her guild, but I can't go there…" I muttered to myself as I turned a corner and ran into Jellal. "Oh, hey," I greeted reluctantly.

"Hello," he returned the greeting, though then both of us were in a tense silence. "Listen-"

"Wait," I interrupted. "I may not like you…but I've been thinking…we're kind…the same…"

"Really? And what brought you to that conclusion?"

"We both killed the family of someone close to us," I explained. "But I've been forgiven for it, so…I guess I can do the same to you…for now," I said as I looked away. I heard him chuckle.

"You have my thanks. I promise that you won't regret it. Alright, I'm off to the first fight," he said walking past and waving to me.

"Oh yeah, if you see a woman in a white blazer with black-ish purple hair, run. She's probably going to try and kill you."

"I'll keep it in mind," he returned as we went our separate ways.

Finally giving up, I returned to watch the fights of the day, only to discover that Fairy Tail A got 0 points and Team B got 1, putting them in the lead. I already was grimacing at the thought of what they would do to us, not that the others knew about the little bet.

The fights, the important ones anyway; Lucy vs Flare for Fairy Tail A vs Raven Tail. This fight was the first to go on and it was one worth seeing. Both mages used their magic skillfully, Flare maybe a bit too forcefully. It seemed as though Flare was tormenting Lucy at one point, but she quickly recovered with an ultimate spell. Sadly, Lucy was too exhausted to cast it at that point and lost the match, the crowd booing her.

I clenched my fist at their mockery. "I want to punch everyone here right now," I said harshly as Natsu went down to help Lucy to the infirmary to recover her magic.

At first, I expected Kagura to go for Mermaid Heel, but instead it was someone named Arana Webb, facing Ren from the Trimens. The battle was uneventful, but Ren won. Next was Warcry from Quatro Cerberus against Orga from Sabertooth. I studied this battle carefully; I wanted to know exactly what the "strongest guild in Fiore" had to offer.

Honestly it wasn't that impressive, just a gigantic ball of black lightning.

Using background knowledge and deductive reasoning, I pinpointed what type of magic it was. "God Slayer Magic," I reasoned. Mavis and Makarov turned to me. "That's the type of magic he uses."

"You only saw one attack," Mavis commented, doubting me.

"One was enough. It wasn't that hard really; it's not like Laxus who uses regular lightning to hide his Lightning Dragon Slayer Magic. This guy's like me; showing off at every chance he gets," I smirked as I continued. "My magic, Devil Slayer Magic, is white in color because it's supposed to represent holiness or light because it was meant to combat evil; demons to be exact. God Slayer Magic is the opposite, appearing black and demonic because it's supposed to clash with the divine. It only stands to reason that Orga's black lightning is God Slayer Magic.

"Impressive," Makarov said. "All of that from one attack?"

I scratched the back of my head. "And a grimoire that Precht showed me about different Slayer Magics," I admitted.

Mavis chuckled. "Are you sure your title isn't the Fairy Analyzer?" she joked as we turned our attention back to the ring, where the next two opponents were walking into. This is the one I'd been waiting for; the Wizard Saint Jura vs "Mystogan", or just Jellal, a former Wizard Saint.

The match went about as expected; Jellal wasn't used to Mystogan's staves and as such was losing. He began using spells that people didn't _know_ Mystogan had possessed, they never knew what spells he could exactly cast, but then…he started acting like a moron…and then he lost…

I must've face-palmed without realizing because as Jellal walked off of the arena with the reddest face I could see underneath that mask, my forehead hurt. Mirajane put a hand on my shoulder. "Look on the bright side, Inigo, Team B is in the lead, which means I'll have my way with you soon," she assured.

"I dread the day like the day I die," I returned, a sullen look on my face.

"Don't look so down, boy," Makarov said. "Keep your chin held high with pride; it'll do you good."

I nodded, standing up straighter. "Hey, so…that's the end of events. What now?"

"Everyone goes to their sleeping quarters and waits for tomorrow," Mirajane explained. I nodded. "Well technically we don't have to be in our sleeping quarters until midnight, so we might as well party, right Master?"

"Of course! He said as the members gathered around. "Now look here! Today was a complete failure!" he called out to us. "But hey, that just means we're gonna come back ten times as strong tomorrow, right?" he called to a roar of cheers from everyone. "Alright! Tonight, we party until we can't party anymore! Understood?!"

"Yeah!" everyone yelled in unison.

I turned to Mirajane. "Actually, I'm gonna go check up on Wendy and Carla first, if that's okay with you."

"Completely fine," she assured. "Don't be late though!"

I nodded and headed off. Once I got there, I saw the guild's apothecary woman, Porlyusica treating the two, now sleeping with a steady rise and fall of their chests rather than the faint one I saw earlier. "Wow, you got here fast," I commented as I took a seat at the side of the bed. "Do you know what's wrong?"

"It's hard to say, but she doesn't remember what happened, so that doesn't exactly help. I suspect that it was because of a large expenditure of magic power all at once, though I know that she wouldn't be so reckless."

"So you're saying…someone drained her of her magic all at once?"

"Perhaps…or maybe she _was_ just reckless. I can't say for sure."

"Mm," I nodded. "Do you mind If I…?"

"Go right ahead. They're fine for tonight, so I'm going to catch some shut eye," she said as she left.

With that, I reached over and shook Wendy a bit, stirring her awake. "Hey there, Little Sky," I said. "Naptime's over."

"Huh? W-what happened?" she wondered. "Where am I?"

I looked at her, confused. "Didn't you see Porlyusica?" I asked, to which she shook her head. "Well, what about before that. What do you remember?"

"Well…not much. Nothing after…I got to Crocus."

"I see. Well, it doesn't matter now anyway. You're safe with family, right? Just focus on recovering, alright?"

"But what about the Games? Master Makarov asked me to participate."

I gave a smile. "Don't worry, Elfman and I have got it covered."

She nodded. "Alright…what happened today during the Games?"

"Well…we kinda sucked," I admitted. "There are two Fairy Tail teams. B is beating A with a grand total of one point."

She laughed at that. "Well, we'll do better tomorrow, I'm sure, and hopefully I can watch this time."

"Yeah. The guild is celebrating right now with that same hope too, so I guess great minds think alike."

She smiled at that. "Yeah. You should go enjoy yourself too. I don't want to keep you here all night."

"It's no problem," I assured her.

"But I insist that you have fun with you-know-who," she teased, making me chuckle.

"…Are you sure that you're fine?"

"Positive, Devil Boy. Go on and have fun," she said, snuggling into her pillow for the night. I nodded and took my leave, heading to the party.

 **Author's Note:**

 **I don't know if you guys mind if I tell you, but I'm right now rapping up writing the Grand Magic Games arc, and next will be a mini-arc of my own creation followed by the Eclipse Celestial Spirit arc, Sun Village, etc.**

 **I have to say that writing this has been a lot easier and a lot more fun than I thought it would be. As you've probably noticed, unlike the show, I don't have to focus on every single match in detail, so I'll only detail the ones that either interest me, or ones that could be funny or have opportunities to progress the characters, or whatever.**

 **Also, IMPORTANT: please don't get pissy about when I'll be changing some of the matches to fit my own narrative purposes. I promise that I've calculated everything to where all the teams' points will be the same as they were in the show at the start of the last day. As for whether or not the points will stay the same on the last day, well...the rankings will be the same, so it shouldn't matter too much then.**

 **Anyway, enough with my ranting, I'll just let you get on with your day while I cry in my room after realizing the SAO Abridged only has six episodes out right now. See ya!**


	20. 20 Blew It

As I was walking toward the party, which was quite a ways away, I felt a presence following me. At first, I decided to ignore it, but soon it became unbearable. I turned a corner and then ducked to where they couldn't see me, letting them pass me by. When I peeked out at them, I silently sighed with relief. I stepped out and leaned on the wall. "And here I thought the person following me would be threatening," I mocked the blond-haired man who jumped slightly at my voice behind him.

He turned around with a cocky smirk on his face. "Fairy Tail's newest S-class mage, if I'm not mistaken. The Alter Fairy; Inigo Asher, correct?"

"That's right. Unfortunately, you aren't someone I'd bother to recognize."

"Tch, Sting Eucliffe."

"It's a pleasure," I said, deadpan, turning away from him. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have places to be, so-"

"Wait," he called, slightly annoyed. "Listen here, Fairy Trash; you should just give up on the Games. A lot has changed in the past seven years, and you're out of your league."

"We'll see," I answered, turning back to him. "But you don't seem like the guy who'd say that out of kindness."

"Oh?"

"To me, it seems like you're scared of Fairy Tail, as you should be. Otherwise, why would it matter if we dropped out; it would be more points for Sabertooth, right?" he glared at me. "I mean, if you want, I can show you _exactly_ why you should be afraid," I threatened, releasing a couple of white sparks around me.

Sting also released his magic. "I'd wipe the floor with you; don't tempt me, Fairy Trash."

"Call us that one more time and I'll hit you so hard that you won't be able to feel your body for a month."

The tension grew between us until it was about to culminate in Sting throwing the first punch, but then a woman walked in-between us, stopping us. "If you're going to fight, do it outside. Sabertooth Dragon, why would you waste your time on him; there are more important things you could be doing. And you," she turned to me. "Your guild certainly can't afford bad press at this point, especially recklessly attacking the strongest guild."

The two of us were left in silence before Sting pushed past both of us. "I don't have time for this," he muttered.

I sighed. "Kagura," I acknowledged. "Thanks for saving me the trouble," She nodded to me, an awkward silence forming between us. "So…" I started. "How've things been?" I asked, to which she shot me a look that could kill, making me flinch.

"I should be the one asking that. You left me, remember? You have no right to ask me 'how've things been'," she said with disgust.

"Well…things have been…fine, I guess," I answered. "Um, look, can we talk, like to catch up?"

"I don't have the time," she answered, turning away from me. "Although I do have one question."

"What is it?"

"Did you find him?" she asked.

"Jellal…no, I haven't," I lied. "I was told he was killed already anyway."

"He wasn't," she assured me. "…That's good."

"It's good that he's alive. You're saying you forgive him?" I questioned, garnering another death glare from her.

"Say anything like that again, and I'll cleave you in two," she threatened before returning her back to me. "No, I'm happy he's alive," she held her sword out in front of her, with it sealed shut using what felt like a magical seal as bandages. "Because then, with the Archenemy, I can kill him myself. I swear it," she vowed. There it was again, that strange presence again, forming around her.

"Not with it sheathed like that," I said cautiously. "And I told you only to unsheathe it when-"

"When it was necessary, which at that point, it will be completely necessary," she stated. She took a deep breath. "Now then, I look forward to your show in the Games, _Igi_ ," she mocked my previous nickname.

"You may look older than me, but you're still _Little Kagura_ ; you'd do well to remember that," I returned as we walked past each other, and I felt the presence follow her.

I took a deep breath, deciding that I would deal with it later, proceeding to the party.

When I arrived, everyone seemed to be in high spirits, most just messing around and talking. I sat at the bar and sighed. Cana sat next to me. "So? Did you catch up with your friend?" I shook my head. "Did you at least talk to her?" I nodded. "And?"

I leaned back a little and bonked my head with my fist. "I blew it," I lamented. "I guess the whole 'haven't talked in twelve years' thing kinda stings to her," I joked turning to my friend. "Any ideas?"

"Well, you could show some skin, maybe abs are the thing that'll get to her," she suggested, merely throwing out ideas.

"Says the single lady who constantly shows her midriff," I teased, garnering a love tap on the arm.

"Whatever. Well, what does she like? Maybe you could bribe her into talking to you. I know Erza has a weakness like that. P.S. it's strawberry cake."

I chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind…um…"

"What?"

"I…can't remember," I admitted, the feeling of guilt soon dawning on me. "I can't remember what she liked."

"Well that's pretty heartless of you," she teased. "Anyway, now that she's here and you'll see her, it'll come back; I'm sure."

I nodded, trying to assure that to myself. "Yeah, they'll come back."

However, I knew better, deep down. Those memories were gone, however much I didn't want to admit it. I guess they really weren't that important now that I thought about it, but it left a bad taste in my mouth at the thought of not knowing what my family enjoyed.

I sighed as a man walked up to us. "Cana Alberona of Fairy Tail, right?" the man asked, clad in what looked like a purple turtle shell on his back. "The famous drinker?"

"Yeah, why?" she said, instantly disliking this guy.

"Well, I just wanted to have a drink, is that a problem?" he asked as he sat down on the opposite side of her from where I was.

"Is that…is that a challenge?" she questioned, her voice rising to attract a small crowd.

"So what if it is? Would you accept?" With that, I started laughing. "Oh? Did I say something funny?"

"Yeah, you did," I answered. "No one can beat Cana in a drinking contest," I told him.

"We'll see," he said, the bartender bringing out the barrels for them to start. With that, the most intense struggle of the Games yet began, with both of them becoming progressively more hammered as time went on.

Cana turned to me and giggled. "Hey, Glittermate, how are you there?" she wondered, her words slurred horribly.

I held up two fingers. "Cana, how many fingers am I holding up?"

"Um…seven," she answered before turning back and chugging another barrel, the turtle-man doing the same.

With that, both of them wobbled in their chairs, but, surprisingly, Cana was the one to fall over, making the new guy the winner. All of us could only watch, shocked, as the man stumbled over to a now sleeping Cana and ripped her bra from her chest right in front of us, starting to waltz out the door.

I stopped him. "You bastard; you better put that back where you found it, or else," I threatened, my magic starting to be released in my anger.

"Oi! Look, the Fairy is spinning! That's good, makes a bigger target!" the man exclaimed, us both preparing to fight, however, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

I turned. "Erza," I acknowledged her.

"Inigo, don't waste your time," she said. "Let him pass," With reluctance, I adhered to my senior S-class and let the man exit. "Alright everyone, we have to all be in our sleeping quarters soon, we should head there now," she called to the others who were watching the ordeal. I walked over to the sleeping Canna and placed my jacket over her shoulders and zipped it up to cover her. I then turned to Gajeel.

"She sleeps with you guys, right?" I said simply, with him seemingly understanding as he picked her up.

With a goodbye, the teams parted ways. I was nearly silently muttering things about that man. "Enough with your grumbling Inigo," Erza said. "It's childish."

"I just don't like it when people take advantage of my friends," I argued. "You should've let me fight."

"Well, I wasn't sure you could win. It your victory was guaranteed, I'd have no problem," she claimed. "That man was Bacchus, of Team Quatro Cerberus. We've met several times before, fought even, but neither of us have ever won," she admitted.

"Even you couldn't beat that guy?" Gray questioned. "Must be tough. Isn't he stepping in starting tomorrow too?"

"Yeah that's right."

I nodded. "Alright, one of you better get injured in tomorrow's event so I can kick that guy's ass, alright?" I gave a thumbs-up, but got a smack on the head.

"Not gonna happen, Devil-Boy," Natsu said as he slammed his fist into his palm. "I want a crack at that guy too."

With a laugh from Lucy, we all loosened up. "That's assuming we even get a crack at him," I stated what was on all of our minds. "And even then, there are more foes to defeat after him, and judging from today…" I trailed off.

"Well, I'm gonna move past today," Natsu vowed. "No matter what, I'm never looking back at today as seeing it as anything more than another sunrise and sunset, because that's all it was; there'll always be another to follow it."

We all nodded. "Right, we'll move on, just like we always have."

 **Author's Note:**

 **And there you have it, Inigo and Kagura's first interaction, not exactly a pleasant one, was it?**

 **Anyway, what'd you guys think of the chapter? I'd love to know and stuff, and hey, if you have any questions, why don't you send me a PM? I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.**

 **Also, OC submission is still open, but other than that, I just hope you all enjoyed and are looking forward to the second day of the Grand Magic Games!**


	21. 21 Second Day

Day two at last, and of course it started off _splendidly_ , just like yesterday had. The event was called Chariot, and all I'll say is that it involved transportation, and of course the three possible people chosen for the event from Fairy Tail A, Fairy Tail B, and Sabertooth respectively, were the Dragon Slayers; the only people who couldn't handle transportation.

I let out a mental sigh as I watched the race having already ended and watching Natsu, Gajeel, and Sting compete for 6th, 7th, and 8th place.

However, instead of dwell on it, I looked forward to the matchups for today. Toby from Lamia Scale vs Kurohebi ended as I suspected once I knew what their magic was; Kurohebi won. However, they started the bets of today, which would be a recurring theme with the battles and also one of my worst nightmares; I hated bets honestly, as you tell from my drinking contest with Cana, whenever I make one, I lose, so…yeah…enough said.

Anyway, the one that I was looking forward to was next; Elfman vs Bacchus. "Give 'em hell, Elf-boy!" I yelled, cheering him on the loudest form our team. I was really eager to see him kick the shit out of the new drunkard.

At first, when the match started, neither of them moved; they just talked, and then I heard Gajeel snicker, probably because he heard what they were saying with his enhanced hearing. "What?" I questioned.

"Oh, you're not gonna like their bet."

"Well what is it?" I questioned further, not even really wanting to know.

He continued snickering. "They bet the Beast's sister."

"They bet Mirajane?" I asked again, to which he nodded, however, I probably shouldn't have, as the person in question overheard.

"He what?!" the she-Devil yelled as she pushed to the edge. "Elfman! You better beat him or I'm gonna give you double the pain as he'll give you!" she threatened.

I had to hold her back from jumping into the arena herself, with her arguing that she should fight for her own body.

Even still, the match went very poorly for the most part. "Damn, Elf-boy can't lay a finger on him," I commented.

"Bacchus doesn't use his magic for much," Erza said back. "He uses it to power up his martial arts," she clarified. "And he gets even stronger when he drinks; it accentuates his style; that's why I wasn't sure you could win last night," she finished as we watched the turtle do, what else, drink. As he dashed toward Elfman, a bright light shone form him, and when Bacchus hit him and stepped back, we all saw that his hands were bruised. When Elfman's light faded, we saw that he was in a new form, Lizardman, where his scales could block every attack that might be thrown at him.

With that it became an endurance round, with Bacchus never letting up and Elfman standing there and taking it, knowing that it would all be over if he fought back. Soon, they both gave out, with Elfman having run out of magic energy and dropping to his knees. It seemed to be all over…before Bacchus fell over backwards, unconscious. "Bacchus is down!" Chapati yelled. "It's over! Elfman is the victor, winning Fairy Tail A 10 points!"

Mirajane and I came into each other's arms, overjoyed at the man's victory. I leaned over to Mira. "Don't worry, I wouldn't have let that guy do anything to you."

"I know," she answered, pulling away. "Alright, time for my match. Wish me luck!"

"I'm wishing your opponent has insurance," I told her as she walked away and down to the arena.

"And so, let the match begin between the two most successful drawing cards in Magic history!" Chapati yelled as I noticed a certain someone finally arrive.

"Oh hey, Wendy. You feeling okay?" Natsu asked.

She gave a smile and nodded to us. "Yes, thank you all for helping me."

Gray ruffled my hair. "Yeah, it was this bonehead who went out to look for you from what I hear," he said, though I swatted his hand away.

"It's because she's a member of this guild. Jeez…whatever, anyway, we should just focus on the match and-" I looked and saw that both contestants had used transformation magic to pose in bikinis. I was left with my mouth hanging open. It seemed Makarov had the same reaction, only his was out of lust as he stood like a salivating dog.

"Get a hold of yourself master," Romeo begged.

I rushed to the edge. "Mira! I said to kick ass, not show it!" I called down to her, garnering laughter from my team.

She turned to our side of the stadium and stuck another, more provocative pose to our side. "Like what you see?" I heard her say in an intentionally sexy voice, making mine and everyone else's face go beat red. Jenny did the same for her side. Soon I saw a scoreboard above the arena. Mirajane: 8. Jenny : 9.

I frowned. "If you're gonna do this, you better win it!" I called.

Just then, another guild popped out of the shadows; well three members from the guild. Mermaid Heel members came down and joined in the competition, none of them being Kagura thankfully, or else I might have died from embarrassment of having known her. Still, part of me was also disappointed that she didn't have the gall to do something like this, perhaps showing a bit of protectiveness over her image, which was a trait that we apparently shared.

Anyway, after that, guild ladies started popping up all over the place, with Mavis encouraging the Fairy Ladies to do the same. Then it was just a show for us guys, which I, reluctantly, turned away from, wanting to show some dignity. Gray it seemed joined me when Juvia waved seductively to him, so he at least knew when to pull out if you know what I mean.

Anyway, after that they started striking different poses and…I had to look. I mean come on; you would too; don't lie to me! And then…

"Let's move onto the blushing brides! Ladies, go ahead and pick that lucky guy and look as cute as can be!" Chapati yelled.

Mirajane immediately turned to me, winking and motioning for me to come to her. Other guys were already out in the arena. I turned to Makarov. "You can handle this, right?" I asked him.

He clenched his teeth. "It takes every fiber of my being to decline; guild masters cannot participate…" he moaned in despair. With a sigh, I hopped into the arena and went to Mirajane, who had already transformed into a beautiful wedding dress. I frowned as she did the same to my clothes, changing me into a groom's suit, following by interlacing her arm with mine.

"I'm only doing this for you and because the Master refused," I clarified.

"Oh? Well thank you, nakama!"

"Jeez, I hate prostituting myself like this…" I complained.

"Really? Then I have an idea as to what to do to you when Team B wins the bet," she threatened. We both smirked at each other as I pulled our hips to touch.

"You know, I was going to compliment you on the dress, but just for that, you don't get one."

"Then what do I get instead?" she wondered, her voice doing the sexy thing again. I pulled her in close for a passionate kiss, with Mirajane gaining extra points for being part of the only actual kiss in the entire arena. As we did it, I saw out of the corner of my eye Jenny and Hibiki Lates of the Trimens blushing as they watched us, unwilling to do the same in front of everybody. The perks of being in a relationship, right?

I separated from her right before I was teleported back into the stands in my normal clothes. "Alright, and now for our final standoff; combat gear!"

Jenny took the opportunity to put in place their bet for the match. Whoever lost the contest had to do a nude photoshoot for Sorcerer Weekly. While the image of Mira doing that alone was enough to make me go red, I was confident in her. Then Mirajane tipped the odds in her favor by proposing the battle gear portion be decided through an actual battle before a light enveloped her.

The feeling she gave off from the new form was a nostalgic one. "Yeah, that's the She-Devil I remember being a pain trying to beat," I muttered with a smile.

As the form appeared, Natsu and Gray looked confused. "What the hell is that?"

"It's one of Mirajane's Satan Soul forms; Sitri," I told them.

"It's her strongest one, if I'm not mistaken," Erza added. I nodded as Mirajane rushed forward and defeated Jenny with one hit, walking back to our side saying something about how she'd be eager to pick up next week's issue of Sorcerer Weekly.

Finally, we have the final battle of the day, Kagura from Mermaid Heel vs Yukino from Sabertooth, in which I was greatly interested, for two reasons. One, it would let me see how strong Sabertooth mages were, and two, it would let me see if Kagura was really capable enough to "lead" her team effectively…or basically just how strong she was. I wanted to use a differing term so as to not sound redundant, okay?!

Anyway, there was yet another bet in this battle. This time was the worst too; they both bet their lives. Now granted, it wasn't really my business, but it certainly didn't bode well for me.

Anyway, the battle began big, with Yukino summoning the spirit Pisces to charge at Kagura, which she simply dodged with graceful leaps and flips. Annoyed, Yukino then summoned another spirit Libra, in which she pinned Kagura to the ground to stop her from moving, but she soon broke out of it.

After that, she was pinned to the wall, but again, she broke out of it, this time slightly annoyed as she returned the favor, using her own magic, Gravity Change, to force the two Celestial Spirits to the ground. With them beaten, Yukino was forced to pull out another key, saying something about the thirteenth.

"I didn't know it existed," Lucy muttered next to me. I watched on as a gigantic snake appeared above us, the sky turning dark as clouds guarded the sky. "The thirteenth Zodiac Key, Ophiuchus."

However, Kagura stood ready to face it, her sword ready to be drawn, and even though she didn't, she managed to slice through the Celestial Spirit with ease, appearing before Yukino for only a split second before she appeared behind her, locking her sword to her belt and simply listening to Yukino fall defeated.

"Your life now belongs to me; remember that in the days to come," Kagura told her as she walked back to her guild.

Cana walked up to me. "Jeez, your friend is a monster…" she complained.

I smirked. "Yeah, she is. I can't wait to fight her."

 **Author's Note:**

 **That moment when you question why you're writing about and detailing a perverted swimsuit contest...ah, bliss...**

 **Anyway, did you enjoy the little spin I did on the swimsuit contest? If so, leave me a review with your opinions; I'd love to hear them.**

 **OC submission is still open for the sequel by the way, see my profile for details**

 **Other than that, just enjoy the rest of your summer and I sincerely hope that you're all enjoying this and looking forward to the next chapter!**


	22. 22 Request

And so the second day came to a close, with the Fairy Tail Teams standing each with twelve points. It seemed that another party was being held, but this one I opted out of because I had errands to run.

I knocked on the guy's door. "Yeah? What is it?" the deep-voiced man wondered as he opened the door. "You're a guild wizard, no?"

"Yeah, I am," I answered. "Arcadios, right? The guy who talks to the King about matchups?"

"Yes?"

"Well, I'm here to make a request," I said confidently.

"Really?" he seemed uninterested. "And what request would that be?"

"I request that I fight Kagura Mikazuchi in tomorrow's battle portion. I'm eager to see her go at full power, and I promise I'll give you guys a good show; that's what this is all for anyway, right?"

Arcadios started chuckling. "And you understand that making requests is extremely unusual, right?"

I scratched the back of my head in embarrassment. "Actually, I'm riding solely on my tenacity here."

"Alright, boy, I'll put a word in with the King and you'll know the results tomorrow. Enjoy the night and the rest of the Games," he said politely.

"Great! Say hello to the King for me!" I said as I turned around, walking away and waving.

Satisfied, I began wandering the halls, half expecting someone from Sabertooth to follow me again, but this time it was the purple-haired wonder herself who interrupted my walk. "And what would you be doing out by yourself…in Mermaid Heel's section no less?" she wondered.

I shrugged. "Wandering," I answered. "You mind joining me?"

"Depends; are you done giving me attitude?" she countered harshly. I ignored the comment as she walked by my side.

"Hey, so…are you ready to talk?"

"I don't see anything to talk about; you left and now you're back. What's there to say?" she wondered.

"Well, for starters, how about whether or not you were worried about me."

"Of course I was," she said quickly. "How could I not be? That's why I became strong; to find you and to avenge Simon should you have failed in doing so."

I sighed. "Yeah, I guess…"

"And what about you?" she accused. "Had you ever thought of coming to look for me?"

"Yeah, actually, I did, but something came up before I could make it."

"Really? And what could be more important than your family?"

"How about a group of demons trying to kill everyone both in the village and the town not too far from it?" I countered, making her rear back. "You know, believe it or not, I tend to want to protect my family before talking to them; talking can wait until the danger has passed."

"Oh really? And when was this?"

"About two years after I left, actually."

"I had already left to train," she stated, turning away from me. "I trained so hard for you, and you alone, the want to keep you safe was all I thought about; you were my only family left, and then I heard you joined this weird wizarding guild and then you were blown to bits along with the rest of them."

The mention of Tenrou Island sparked a memory. "Oh, right, Tenrou Island…hey, Kagura, I thought you should know this, in case you didn't already," I said, my tone suddenly somber.

"W-what is it?" she asked, off-put by the change.

"Well, Hades, I mean…Precht, he came back to the village and burned it to the ground."

"W-what? And you didn't stop it?"

"I didn't know at the time. I only found out because he attacked Tenrou and we had to defeat him."

"Well…did you?"

I nodded, smirking. "Who the hell do you think I am, to lose to a good man gone dark so easily? Of course I beat him."

She chuckled.

"Anyway, just before the Games, I went to the village. I saw them, Kagura; all of the bodies and the destroyed memories and dreams that lay there. I saw so much pain, too much for me, and I made sure the village stayed in the dust out of rage. I admit that I could've stopped the village's destruction, but I didn't."

"I-I…what is this building up to?"

"I went back for you, Kagura, even after, in your time, twelve years, I went back for you, and I thought that you had died along with everyone else in that village. I was scared for you, Kagura, because I care about you like my own family."

"Well I…thank you," she replied.

I continued. "And then to see you all grown up and so strong…it was a little…hard for me to swallow, especially with you so driven by revenge against Jellal."

"Inigo, you know that that is my sole goal in life, especially now that you're back and I know that I don't have to worry about you."

"I know, but…seeing you now, like this…it's hard to remember the innocent Little Kagura that I left in the village, all of those years ago," I concluded. We had stopped walking as instead we stood facing each, now in silence. "I need to tell you something; something important."

"What?"

"In Fairy Tail B, we have a certain member, who-"

"There you are," Erza interrupted us. She separated us and gave me a cautious smile, locking her arm with mine. "Come along now, Inigo; you're missing the party," she said as she dragged me with her, leaving Kagura wondering what I was about to say and also frustrated I'd bet.

"What the hell was that?" I whispered to her.

"You know we can't reveal Jellal's identity," she whispered back seriously.

I sighed, allowing her to lead me toward the rest of Fairy Tail. "So could you…let go of my arm now?" I said awkwardly.

Erza didn't seem to notice that our arms were still interlocked. "O-Oh, of c-course! I mean…" she trailed off, her face turning red. "It was only an act anyway."

"Don't be getting all touchy-feely on me; you have someone else who's meant for you," I told her with a genuine smile.

"Really?" she didn't seem impressed. "And who would that be?"

"How about the dark and mysterious, hooded S-class mage for Fairy Tail B?" I teased, causing her to turn red even further.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh? And why did you two run off when we underwent the Second Origin?" I questioned. I raised my hands. "Look, it's okay for you to admit it. I mean, I don't exactly agree with your tastes, but that's beside the point."

"Indulge in your perverted fantasies a bit longer why don't you!" she crossed her arms, giving me a bit of laughter as I slung my arm around her shoulders.

"Ah, I love Fairy Tail…"

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hey guys, sorry for the shorter one, but I didn't want to start the third day in the middle of a chapter, so I decided to save it for next time.**

 **Anyway, what do you guys think about my portrayal of Kagura? Accurate? Different? Either way, go ahead and leave me a review if you would about your thoughts.**

 **Also, OC submission is still open, so there's always that, but other than that, I guess I'll catch you on the flip side!**


	23. 23 Busted

Day three began wonderfully, with the news of my match with Kagura being confirmed. However, the others were less than thrilled, especially Erza. "Are you sure that you can take her?" Gray asked.

"I think the better question is whether or not he's willing," Erza exclaimed, giving me a hard stare. "She's the one from your childhood."

I nodded. "Trust me, the guild comes first in my book. I'm just happy because I get to see if she's really grown stronger since then. That's why I'm excited, not so I can give her points," I assured her.

"Then you'll go all out from the beginning?"

"Well…maybe not _all_ out; I want to gauge her skill first to see if I even need to."

"You need to," Erza said.

"And what's gotten you so worried about me?" I questioned. "You know I can handle myself just fine."

"Maybe against a normal opponent, but against family?"

"I helped beat Hades, didn't I?"

"Actually you didn't want to fight him," Natsu interrupted.

"I meant the second time."

"Well there might not be a second time, Inigo."

"Would you guys just…get off my back? I'll be fine, I promise," I gave them a thumbs up. "Anyway, we should get ready for today's event."

Once we arrived, after wishing Elfman the best of days in the infirmary, we found out today's event; Pandemonium.

"Each contestant will choose how many monster to fight out of 100, the trick being that they won't know how strong those monsters will be. Depending on the number of monsters beaten by any given representative, you will be scored. Each team, please choose your representative."

I was tempted to step forward, but Erza beat me to it, even giving a bold challenge. "I request to fight all 100 monster at once!" she called, shocking both us and the audience.

"All 100?" Gray questioned, not believing her as much as I didn't.

"Some of them are on the level of a Saint, right? Are you sure about this?" I continued. She turned to me and smiled.

"If you're going to be ridiculously confident today, then so am I," she replied. I smiled back as she turned back to the castle.

With a nod from the refs, she stepped into the castle and began to fight. Even the D-class monsters gave her a bit of trouble, which wasn't a good sign. Still, she pushed through until they mingled with the C-class monsters, and then the B-class.

We saw Erza do things with her magic that we never thought possible, like using swords from two different armors at once, something which seemed to wear her down faster than usual. By the time she got to the A-class monsters, she didn't have enough magic power to sustain her armors, and was instead in what she was when we fought Azuma, wielding two swords.

Finally, after beating 99 monsters, she came to the S-class monster, which, as we soon found out, tripled in power when it was the last one left. It seemed that all was lost, and the refs were about to call it as Erza was seemingly being crushed underfoot, but I stopped them. Sure enough, Erza rolled out of the way of another kick and dashed up toward the monster's core, slashing through it and finding the monster crumbling to pieces.

At this point, Erza was bloody and hardly remaining conscious, but she managed to stumble her way to the top of the castle, which was now crumbled enough to where the top was basically at eye level with us, and raised her only remaining sword high into the air in triumph.

She grinned our way for a split second before she fell down and rolled across the rubble to the ground. "I've got her," I said, about to jump down.

"What about your match?"

"I'll be back long before then," I told them as I hopped down and to Erza. "You're one crazy son of a bitch, you know that?" I told her as I wrapped her arm around my neck and my arm around her waist to help her stand. She was too weak at this point to say anything. I doubt she wouldn't be back on her feet by tomorrow, but the sight was just pathetic to look at it.

I took her to the infirmary and laid her up in a bed, staying for a minute until she woke up and telling her that she won and that's all that matters right now, before leaving.

When I got back, I had no idea what the event to decide everyone else's places, but I knew that Cana was up and she was stripping, so…yeah. No, but seriously; as soon as I saw the tattoo, I knew that I was in for another light show. Makarov looked furious as he looked to Mavis. "You didn't…"

"I lent it to her one more time."

"Why? The Fairy Glitter isn't meant to be misused!" he accused.

"Why? Silly; to win of course!" she said happily, with a mischievous glint in her eyes. I watched Canna charge up the attack, much to the shock of the audience before unleashing it, bringing a smile to my face.

"Fairy Glitter!" she yelled as it struck the thing.

I chuckled as I look at the floating numbers: 9999. "Yeah…I still think her version is nicer," I admitted.

"Speaking of," Mavis said. "Do you think that you'll use your version in the tournament?"

"I mean…maybe. It kinda takes a lot out of me, so…" she gave me a disinterested look.

"And?"

"Um…I will if I have to; is that enough?"

She smiled brightly. "Yup!"

So the standings that matter; Fairy Tail A got first and Fairy Tail B got second, so…yay I guess. Anyway, the refs announced a temporary postponement of the battles to clean up or whatever, so we had time to explore the city.

I noticed that Jellal was rushing out of the stadium. "Oh? And where are you off to?" I wondered. He stopped only momentarily.

"Quickly, follow me; I could use your help," he said before continuing to run, with me soon following close behind.

I soon caught up to him as we exited the stadium. "You mind telling me what's going on?"

"I sense a strange presence in the city; I'm tracking it," he explained.

I nodded as we raced through the city, only to run into a man that apparently Jellal didn't want to. "Stop," the man ordered. "I am Doranbolt of the Magic Council."

"Oh? And what does a Councilman want with a couple of Fairy Tail wizards?" I wondered, speaking for Jellal, though he looked anxious to get away from the man.

"I want to know who this…Mystogan is under his mask," he said, giving a sly smile as Rune Knights and the guest commenter for today, Lahar, another Councilman, surrounded us.

"Please, we're kind of in a hurry here," I pleaded, though that only pissed the man off.

Doranbolt lashed out at Jellal, striking his face and ripping off his mask, revealing his face. I tried to remain calm, even though he just got busted by his former imprisoners. "As I thought; Jellal."

"I'm sorry for my appearance, but I am not the Jellal that you know," Jellal replied quietly, remaining cold and composed, shooting Doranbolt a stare that caught him off-guard.

"Really? Than who are you?"

I took a deep breath. "Listen, you probably won't believe me, but Mystogan is actually-"

"What's going on here?" Yajima, one of the commentators, and a former Councilman, pushed through the crowd. "Why are you reprimanding two Fairy Tail wizards?"

"Because one of them is a wanted criminal, sir," Doranbolt reasoned.

"I don't see what criminal you're talking about. Jellal is most likely as far from the council as possible. Mystogan is a Fairy Tail wizard that coincidentally has his appearance."

"B-but sir-"

"Are you done here?"

"I-I…yes sir, I'm sorry for the confusion, Mystogan. You may go about your business," he said, clearing the way for us, allowing us to continue running through the city. Jellal had put his mask back on.

"Well that was close, wouldn't you say?" I said light-heartedly.

"You're far too laid-back about this…"

Honestly, thinking back, I should've been more alert than anything, being laid-back had nothing to do with it.

Sadly, the presence that Jellal had felt had gotten away, and, disheartened, we returned to the stadium just in time to catch the second match. The first was Sherria Blendy of Lamia Scale vs Semmes of Quatro Puppy in which the Lamia Scale God Slayer won handily apparently. Anyway, next up was Eve Tearm vs Rufus Lore, the guy who humiliated Gray in the first day's event. Needless to say, he beat Eve quickly.

Next us was Laxus vs Alexei from Raven Tail, which looked to be going horrible at first…until it turned out to all be an illusion, revealing all of Raven Tail had participated and therefore disqualified Raven Tail quickly from the Games.

Anyway, next is the one I was waiting for; me representing Fairy Tail A vs Kagura Mikazuchi representing Mermaid Heel. We both walked out into the arena, with her shooting me a glare that I wasn't expecting, though I only returned it with a smirk, confident in my abilities.

"Fighters! You may begin when ready!" Chapati announced.

Neither of us wasted any time, as we had a thirty minute time limit. I made a sword to match hers and clashed with her. "So, is there a reason that you look more sour than usual?" I questioned.

"The fact that someone I thought I could trust turns out to be housing the most hated man in both of our lives," she spat quietly, so as for no one else to hear. "That could have something to do with it."

Time seemed to stand still as I realized that she saw Jellal's face, and I was right next to him when it happened, defending him. I clenched my teeth. "It's not what you think," I assured.

"Really? Because it looks pretty clear to me where you stand!" she snapped as she forced me back a few yards, the tension between us rising as we both released our magic in anger at the other. She pointed her sheathed sword, the Archenemy, at me. "You made a promise, Inigo Asher, and you've betrayed me! I'll _never_ forgive you!"

 **Author's Note:**

 **What can I say? I love to dick you guys around with cliffhangers before the battles.**

 **Anyway, all jokes aside, I'm really curious as to what you guys thought of me moving the scene where Mystogan gets stopped from after the matches to here. At least I think it was after the Day Three matches, but what do I know?**

 **Anyway, if you could, go ahead and leave a review and share your thoughts, I'd love to hear them so long as it's not trolling, but come on; I know my readers are better than that.**

 **Also, OC submission is still open, check my profile for details, but other than that, I hope you're all enjoying and are looking forward to the battle!**


	24. 24 Pride

As soon as she said it, I started laughing, confusing her, but I soon stopped it, hanging my head and letting my hair shroud my eyes. "You'll never forgive me? Give me a break; isn't that a little clichéd, _Little Kagura_?" I questioned.

"Don't try and make light of this!" she demanded.

"Oh I'm not, but for now, that doesn't matter," I looked up and held a finger to my lips. "Mum's the word, got it?"

The gesture only angered my little sister, as she dashed towards me, both of us now filled with mutual feelings of betrayal, though mine were far more selfish than hers, I'll admit.

I hated when people see something and then get pissed about it without knowing the full story. Now, in this particular situation it just so happened that she had every right to be pissed, but that's beside the point. Frankly, it seems more inconsiderate than the fact that I really _did_ betray her in a sense…but maybe that's just me.

Anyway, the battle. At first it seemed that we were even in terms of sword prowess. Even with the Archenemy sheathed, she still certainly knew how to use it effectively. However, as soon as we backed off, she smirked. "Is this all that you've amounted to in all of these years?" she mocked. "I think it's time that I stop playing around then."

"So you were messing with me, huh? Fine, then I guess we'll both have to take this fight seriously from this point," I said as I stabbed my sword into the ground.

"W-what are you-"

I unhooked the little sling that my arm was in, and took my arm out of it. After that, I unzipped and took off my jacket to give myself the maximum amount of mobility. Sadly, it seemed it balanced out with my patience being worn down by the swooning women in the crowd, but I tried to ignore them.

I picked up my sword and then, shocking the crowd, and I made another in my other arm, looking ready to fight. Kagura took up a defensive stance. "Tch, I was under the impression that you only had use of one arm."

I shrugged. "I thought it looked cool, and besides, the look on your face was priceless," I said as I dashed toward, clashing one of my blades and then swinging past hers with the other. She leapt over me, swinging as she was over me and we continued with a flurry of sword slashes and stabs at one another after she landed.

"Inigo!" Mirajane yelled form the stands. "Finish this quickly! Forget her face, just treat her like any other enemy!"

I clenched my teeth as we separated, silently cursing myself as I was unable to do what my nakama told me to do. " _I'm sorry, Mira, but I'm not capable of that,_ " I said through telepathy. _"Damn, she's gotten good with that thing. I can't seem to break her defenses,_ " I thought to myself, hoping that Erza heard me to give me some advice, but it seemed that she didn't.

She went through another flurry of attacks, clashing with our faces just inches from the others'. "What's wrong, _Igi_? You're slipping up."

"In your dreams," I replied, releasing a couple of sparks. "I haven't even started to use my magic yet, so don't get comfortable."

She smirked. "Well you better hurry; we've only got half the battle left."

I clenched my teeth as I forced her to one knee, proceeding to kick her away, sacrificing one of my swords in order to use other magic. I put a hand up to her. "Thunder Devil's Flash!" I yelled, sending the bolt her way, with it zig-zagging every which way, catching her off-guard when it circled around her and struck her in the back. I dashed toward her in her shock (haha) and uppercutted her with the hilt of my blade. As she stepped back, her mouth bled a little. "Jeez, it took me long enough to make you turn red, now didn't it?" I asked, which made her cheeks literally go red before she attacked once again.

I blocked a couple more strikes before unleashing another flash. She blocked the behind shot this time, but it left her wide open for me to strike her away with the hilt again. Frustrated, she turned around and held a hand out to me, more specifically my legs and feet. "Gravity Change!" she called, and it seemed my feet were locked in place, but other than that, I was fine.

She circled around to my backside, where she got a couple hits it before I made a second sword for safety and blocked the rest. She circled me even more, unleashing burst after burst of attacks from all sides, most of which I was able to block, however as I did, that gave her the opportunity to kick me to the ground and stomp on my head, pounding it into the dirt.

"You're tasting the equivalent of your trust; as stale and worthless as dirt," she said as she dug her heel into the back of my head.

I let out a yell as I released my magic power in a shockwave around me, tripping her up and allowing me to pin her to the ground. "The moment when you gloat is the moment when I'll strike back, which is what led us to this position."

"Get the hell off of me!" she yelled.

"Fine, but you never said how," I said as I moved my feet onto her arms to free my hands, which I used to grab her hair, roll forward, and throw her into the wall of the stadium. I wasted no time, as before she even fell to the ground, I dug her into a crater in the wall with a strong punch to the gut. She coughed out a little bit of blood from the attack, and now separated from her sword, was helpless, unless she wanted to try her magic again, but she already saw that that didn't work in the long run.

I let her peel off of the wall, where I jumped and kicked her into the ground, my foot's power amplified with my magic. Kagura, using her Gravity Chance Magic to nullify the impact, propelled herself up and headbutted me, allowing her to make a break for her sword. Once she made it, we clashed weapons again before she forced me back. We were both panting, and the clock was at three minutes until it was over.

"I've have enough of this!" she snapped, unravelling the bandages sealing her sword.

"Don't do it," I warned.

"Kagura! Please, not here!" her teammates called, but she was so blinded by her anger that she either didn't hear them or didn't care.

She unsheathed her blade in a flash, dropping the sheath and revealing the magnificent blade that I had only seen a select few times. The powerful dark aura that I had felt radiating from around her skyrocketed as the Archenemy was unsheathed. I could finally identify it as one of a demon. Was that the bad feeling I'd had since I saw her? A demon was locked away inside of her sword?

"If you swing that in here, then innocent people will be in danger," I warned once again, holding my hand out cautiously.

"I don't give a damn!" she yelled, her eyes only seeing me and my inevitable defeat rather than the consequences. I readied my sword, reinforcing it more with extra magic power put into it.

"Kagura, this isn't you; I know that this isn't you. You need to calm down, and-"

It was too late. She dashed toward me, and swung to the side. I blocked the strike, sure, but the shockwave created by the sword was heading straight for the audience. I took action quickly, pushing her back and moving with my lighting to reach it in time. I intercepted the shockwave and took the hit, at least cutting off the part that would've hit the audience. Too bad it cut me up and thrashed me in the process. I was flung toward the railing, with my back colliding with it before I fell to the ground, barely conscious. I managed to pick myself up with using my sword as a crutch.

My vision was going in and out as I looked at Kagura who was approaching. " _Why aren't you activating your Second Origin?_ " I heard Gray question with my telepathy.

Oh yeah, I could use that, couldn't I? I shook my head. "I'll save that trump card for later; it's too late right now," I reasoned. I could also use the Devil's Shine again, but with how far my markings were, I didn't because I would've been out of commission for the rest of the Games, which wouldn't have been pleasant. I didn't have any other option than to try and stay conscious as Kagura rushed me once again, now with the Archenemy sheathed. I desperation, I pulled my sword from the ground and blocked a couple of hits before I was knocked backwards onto the ground. She charged me once again, and I raised my sword in front of me in one last ditch effort to defend myself…when the bell sounded.

We had clashed weapons, and Kagura wasn't letting up on it. It was taking all I had to keep her at bay, and the refs noticed this, sounding the bell again to make sure we heard it. At last, she relented, standing straighter and shooting me a glare.

"In the bar, tonight," she ordered as she stormed away. I fell backward onto my back, panting and my eyes closed, so exhausted form the battle which was far more intense than I had thought it would be. I felt hands on me, shaking me to make sure I was still alive.

"Yeah? What? I'm just taking a breather," I joked as my team chuckled. Mirajane picked me up to my feet and helped me to the infirmary as the stadium was cleared out for the day. Erza was resting next to me.

"I thought you said you would go all out from the beginning," she said tastelessly.

"I don't see you on two good legs either, Scarlet," I retorted. "Next time, I'm going to-"

"There might not _be_ a next time, Inigo," she reminded me.

"Well, if there is then, I'm not going to lose."

"Would you two stop bickering?" Mirajane pleaded. "You're both teammates and you both tried your hardest," I only heard Erza sigh, but heard nothing else.

Mirajane bandaged me in silence, and I could tell something was bothering her because of that. She stood. "Alright, I've done what I can; you should be fine for tomorrow, and-" I grabbed her wrist.

"Wait, Mira. Is…something wrong?"

"What? No, of course not," she answered, though I could tell from her stormy gaze that that wasn't true, but it also told me that I wasn't getting anything out of her right now. We both needed to think a few things through before we addressed the elephant in the room.

Whether it was because of pride or because she was my family, I didn't use what I could have used to win that fight. I had, in a sense, betrayed my guild, my teammates, and more importantly, my nakama. She told me to win, to forget who I was fighting and just to go all out and win, and I couldn't.

Sure, the match ended in a tie and Fairy Tail A did get 5 of the 10 points, but I lost that round, far and away.

 **Author's Note:**

 **I usually hate it when only one event happens in a chapter, but I felt that this deserved it.**

 **Anyway, let me know what you guys thought of the fight, if you think I handled it properly and whatnot. Also, quick warning, I'm changing the rules for tomorrow's event slightly to fit within my needs, but only slightly so don't get too excited.**

 **Anyway, OC submission is still open, and I'll see you guys in the next chapter!**


	25. 25 Right

Kagura never stated a time, so I ended up getting to our little meeting around ten minutes early, and hey, I had to pass the time somehow. I was sitting there next to a full mug of beer, while I was sipping my own, my eyes glazed over in thought of what I would say to her.

The air in the room seemed to grow still as she walked in and she sat next to me, now in strangely casual clothes. "It took you long enough to show up," I said blandly, never tearing my eyes away from the wall. She didn't respond, just took the full mug and sipped on it for a while, no thank you or anything. "I have something that I need to tell you."

"Oh trust me, I know about it alre-"

"No, not that. It's about your sword, my sword I mean."

"You relinquished ownership to me long ago," she reminded me.

"Under the condition that you never use it unsheathed unless it was under dire circumstances," I countered. "And you'll never be able to convince me that today was a dire circumstance."

"I don't think you have any room to talk, given what you've done to betray my trust," I put my mug down. "I just…don't see how you can willingly defend Jell-" I put my hand over her mouth to stop her from saying his name here. She forced my hand off.

"Mum's the word, remember?"

"And who says that I've chosen to keep Fairy Tail's little secret? How do you know that I haven't told the magic council already?"

"If you did, then where are they?" I said boredly. "And besides, you wouldn't tell them."

"How do you-"

"If you got him arrested again, then how would you get the chance to kill him yourself?"

Defeated on that point, she kept sipping her drink.

"Listen, I think it's time that I explain myself. We still have a few hours until curfew, so…"

She considered this. "…Go ahead…but _only_ as payment for the free drink."

"Well, I tried my best to keep the promise I made to you when we last spoke, when I left. I searched years for Jellal. It turns out that what we thought he did, he didn't really do at the time that we heard about it. When we heard about it, Simon had become part of his elite team, and just so happened to turn traitor and get killed by Jellal later."

"So the verdict remains. Jellal will die for his sins as he would have."

"When I finally found him, his memories had been erased or he had suffered from amnesia. He forgot all of the horrible things he did, and I by no means wanted to work with him, but at that point there was a greater threat that needed to be dealt with. Anyway, after that-"

"So you lied to me about not finding him?" she accused.

"It was for your own good," I replied.

"Ha! As if I could trust you with my wellbeing!"

" _Anyway_ , once I joined Fairy Tail, I found Precht; turns out he was Fairy Tail's Second Master. However, when I met him, he had turned…darker. He became obsessed with what he thought would be an Ultimate Magic World, and I was forced to help fight him."

"Where is he now?"

"Dead, I'd assume. I didn't kill him, and Master Makarov wouldn't either, but when Acnologia attacked the island, I doubt he left any stragglers like him. Jump forward seven years, when we turned back up."

"So that's why you look young for being twenty-six."

"Yes, that's why. Anyway I met Jellal one more time. He…I'm not sure the best way to explain it, but he had changed. His memories had returned, yes, but he had since devoted his life to reversing all of the horrible things he'd done. He still is, he's investigating some…strange magic source that appears whenever the Games roll around, but that's beside the point. I guess…I guess I'm trying to say that I have forgiven him. It took a while, but he's warmed up to me, and isn't that bad of a person once you get past a stoic exterior. He may have done horrible things, killed Simon, our brother even, but he's trying to make up for it, however he can. I know that his sins can be forgiven, because mine were as well," I turned to my little sister with a hopeful smile. "So what do you say? Would you mind giving him a chance?"

She stared at me for a moment before suddenly striking my face, startling me enough to knock me out of my chair and onto the floor. "You seriously expect me to forgive him just like that?" she demanded, standing over me as I lay on the floor.

"Well I had to be optimistic," I said. "You didn't have to hit me."

She pointed the Archenemy, sheathed of course, at my face. "I should do a lot worse for you saying such blasphemous words to me," she threatened.

I stood. "What's your problem? I came to you with a question; you didn't have to say yes, but you also didn't have to be an asshole about it!"

"My _problem_ is that someone I thought I could trust has gone and turned to the side of the enemy! _Our_ enemy is one that can't ever be forgiven! You of all people should know that, Asher!"

The yelling had drawn the attention of the other people in the bar, with some of them whispering about our match. "And here I thought you had grown to be mature in that you would listen to your family! Our brother would be ashamed of you!" I accused, though that would end up being something that I would regret saying.

She looked hurt by the comment, but chose not to back down. "You don't have the _right_ to call him a brother if you would spit on his grave as much as you have!" she retorted. I clenched my teeth as a couple of sparks began coming out. She smirked. "Don't think you can intimidate me, _Igi_. I'm not some scared little girl that has been longing for the protection of her big brother all of these years. I swear on Simon's grave that I'll find Jellal, and I'm going to rend his flesh from his bones!"

My body was shaking from my anger. Was I really hearing this from my little sister? I reared a fist back, about to punch her. "That's enough, Inigo!" Mirajane called from the entrance to the bar, panting as if she had been running around looking for me.

She walked up to me, gently holding my arm. "Stay out of this, Mira!" I snapped, making her flinch away. "This is between family only!"

She didn't say anything, which drew my eyes to her, only to see her heartbroken. "You…nakama are family, aren't they?" she asked quietly, making me instantly regret ever opening my mouth.

"Mirajane, I-" I reached my hand to her, but she swatted it away.

"Fine! Do whatever you want with your so-called family that made you so blind," tears started forming in her eyes. "But don't expect any help from your real family when you're rejected by her!" she yelled as she ran out and away. I took a few steps to follow her, but then remembered what I was here for. Now torn on what to do, I turned back to Kagura.

"We'll settle this later, Little Kagura. Nakama, wait up!" I called as I ran out after Mirajane. I ran throughout the complex we were in, running into Erza instead, who had since recovered from her exertion earlier. She stopped me.

"Hey, Inigo. You shouldn't be running around both so close to curfew and with your injuries. If you want them gone by tomorrow, then you'll-"

"Not now, Erza!" I snapped, pushing past her and continuing to search for Mirajane. "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Why did I have to be such an idiot?!" I snapped at myself.

I then stopped on a bridge, above a river that ran through the city. I was panting at this point, having run for a good thirty minutes straight.

"Twenty minutes to curfew," I mumbled as I looked at the clock. I sighed, leaning over the railing. "Damn…why did she have to be here?" I asked myself.

I stood watching the reflection on the water for a while, until a certain redhead appeared next to me. "I don't see how you can find water so enthralling," Erza stated, startling me. I jumped back.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" I questioned in a daze, recovering from my Zen-mode having been interrupted.

"Is it strange to see an attractive young woman walking around the city every once in a while?" she made a sexy pose which didn't impress me…but only because I was taken, otherwise…a-anyway, I turned away so as to keep my dignity. "Anyway," she grabbed my hand and started dragging me. "It's five minutes to curfew. We should get going."

I scratched the back of my head. "Well, I can make it back in two, so it's really not that big of a deal."

"Alright, then do it."

I sighed, making a thundercloud big enough for us to sit on and started flying back, soon making it to the window of the room we were in. I didn't speak with anyone, just quietly sulked to my bed and pulled the sheets over my head, eventually falling into a troubled sleep.

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hey guys, not much to say; this was really just the aftermath of the battle, but I suppose it was something at least.**

 **Honestly, I found writing a bitchy Kagura really challenging. One because she was never given much of a personality in the show and I basically had to bring one from the ground up, only taking a few points from the show here or there. And two because...well...I'm not going to say writing bitchy characters is hard because it's probably the easiest thing to write, but to make bitchy characters still relatable, you have to have both a good reason and good attitude going in.**

 **They say that good intentions with a corrupt method leads to a corrupt ending, but a good intention with a good method leads to a more sound resolution. I tried to write it like that, where they're both from the same coin, but one has gone dark from lack of help and one has turned lighter because of help.**

 **Anyway, enough with my rambling; what'd you guys think? That's the important thing that's on my mind, so why don't you ease my sleep by leaving a review?**

 **Other than that, OC submission is still open, and I'll see you guys next time!**


	26. 26 Bet Decided

I woke up on the fourth day of the Grand Magic Games in a foul mood from the previous day's events. I could only hope that today would be better, but a part of me was still dreading it. Of course, it didn't help that I woke up late and had to have my teammates literally drag me out of bed and melt ice over my head to simulate getting water poured on me.

Anyway, things didn't exactly improve from there, as while I was walking to Fairy Tail's section in the stadium, I just so happened to walk alongside the one certain She-Devil who absolutely loathed me at the moment. "Um…nakama…" I started.

"Don't. I don't want to hear any excuses," she said plainly, which I accepted. "Work things out, and then you may call me that again."

I sighed, opting to leave the rest of the walk to silence, which is what happened. As we entered the stadium, I took a deep breath.

Alright, so I had two options. 1: I could sit around and mope all day and do nothing and accomplish nothing for my team. Or 2: I could spend today to repent for the sin of failure yesterday, which ended up being the option I chose. I was determined to make today a better day.

Of course, my confidence was shot when the event was announced: Naval Battle. Just the sight of the sphere of water was enough to make me gag, but I wasn't going to back down. "Wendy," I moaned. "Heal me of sea-sickness please…"

"W-what?" she questioned, my teammates turning to me.

"You don't actually want to do this, do you?" Gray questioned. "You hate water."

I shook my head as Wendy approached me, preparing to do the spell. "Sure, the sight of water is disgusting, but before I got my magic, I was a pretty good swimmer. So long as I don't get sick, I'll be fine," I insisted. "In fact, I doubt I'll even need my magic."

"No magic? Well, I guess it would be technically cheating to do in this kind of thing. You would knock out your opponents instead of make them leave the sphere. Speaking of, the rules are being announced."

"Participants will battle it out inside this giant sphere. All magic is allowed; even lightning magic as this water is altered using magic to negate its conductive properties. A participant is out of the event when they collide with a surface outside of the sphere. Please note that players are not allowed to fly back inside the sphere but may use other forms of magic, such as Gravity Change for example, to propel themselves back in, but again, flying is prohibited. Once only two players remain, a countdown will go off. Once the timer ends, then both participants will end up tying for first. With the talent here with us this year, we have to make some precautions for super-powered players who could match each other blow for blow. Sorry folks, but we've just got to keep you entertained! Alright! Each team, choose your participant!"

By the time the speech was over, Wendy's spell had taken full effect and I was ready to do this. I saw my competition and wasn't that impressed. Jenny would be a cakewalk; Rocker and Shirley the same. Sherria seemed like she might pose a threat, so it would be best to take her out first. The only two that seemed to be the big obstacles were Juvia, whose body could merge with the water, and Minerva Orland from Sabertooth. I didn't know what magic she had, but if she was Sabertooth's strongest member, then she wasn't going to be a pushover. If I made it to the final two then…wait…I couldn't go in with that attitude.

 _When_ I made it to the final two, it would be with one of them, in which case I would most likely be forced to use magic to combat their own, which wasn't a huge loss.

I was transformed to be wearing swim trunks and all of the participants dived in. The timer went off; three, two, one!

I was immediately targeted by two of the eight; Rocker and Sherria. I somersaulted over Rocker's attack, and managed to predict Sherria's magic effectively to both dodge it and make it hit Jenny at the same time. Annoyed, the woman landed a massive kick at Rocker, sending him out of the water. He was unable to save himself. I took the opportunity to grab Jenny's leg and throw her out as well, leaving five. Actually, make that four, as Juvia had used her superior water control to knock Risley out as well, moving on to target Sherria as I momentarily teamed up with her to force the younger girl out, even as she was shielding herself with her magic.

I immediately turned on Juvia, grabbing her hair and attempting the throw her out as well, but that didn't work as she caught herself and retaliated handily, nearly pushing me out as well. I just barely got around her next attack, and as she was charging toward me, she suddenly vanished. I looked around and saw that she had been teleported out of the sphere and had fallen to the ground.

I looked to my last remaining opponent, Minerva. _"What the hell was that?"_ I thought, though I was soon subject to it as well. I was teleported out of the sphere, about four feet from the sphere at its widest and falling from the height of the top of the sphere.

Time seemed to slow down as I wracked my brain on how to salvage this. I thought back to all of the magic I'd ever seen, trying to find out one to put me back into the water.

I couldn't use the thundercloud because it was flying, so that was out. There was Hades' chain magic, but that only seemed to be able to bind things and throw them places rather than pull me toward them. I thought back even further than Tenrou Island, to Edolas, which is where I'd found my answer. My counterpart, Inigo Dirge, had a sword with lightning that was adhesive. He used it to swing form building to building to keep up with me and then he used it again to latch onto me to follow me back to Edolas Fairy Tail. I'd felt a strange feeling coming form that particular lightning and the feeling just clicked like, well, a bolt a lightning.

"Devil Slayer's Ars Arcanum: Lightning Tether!" I called, shooting my hand toward the sphere, shooting out a slightly bendy line of lightning that seemed to attach itself to the sphere, allowing me to yank myself back toward it and into it, catching Minerva off-guard as I kicked her away to give myself room. _"You're going to have to do better than that to beat a Fairy,"_ I thought, using telepathy to make sure that she heard.

She glared at me. " _Don't think yourself above me for using a petty trick_ ," she countered. " _Just for that, you will suffer far before you hit the ground._ "

We dashed toward each other, our fists imbued with our magic, which in her case was some form of condensed magical sphere around her fists. And let me tell you that they packed quite a punch, knocking me out of the water almost every time I didn't parry them, forcing me to use the Lightning Tether again.

The timer reached ten seconds, and, both of us eager to get 1st place, dashed toward each other one last time. I imbued my fist with most of my remaining magic power as she most likely did herself and we both struck each other in the face, sending both of us crashing out on opposing sides of the arena. It just so happened that I landed amidst Sabertooth and she Fairy Tail. Sadly, no one caught me, and I collided with the floor hard, making the stone floors come up from the impact. Minerva on the other hand had been caught by Gray, who helped her stay above the ground as he caught her and quickly set her down.

"Well, it was a little difficult to see, but it turns out that Inigo Asher of Fairy Tail A landed first, making Minerva of Sabertooth the 1st place winner of today's event!"

"What?!" I demanded. Sabertooth was snickering.

"Hey, don't feel bad," Sting mocked. "It's only natural for the top players to have the top score."

"Would you shut your toothy mouth already? I could care less about that; those two points mean that Fairy Tail B has more points than us!" I moaned, trudging over to the guild who had heard my outrage.

"And it also just so happens that right before the battle portion is when our two teams will be disbanded."

"What? Why?"

"Well, with Raven Tail disqualified, they don't have the correct number of teams for the battles, so we need to converge."

I sighed. "So…that means…"

"For the bet, Fairy Tail B is the victor. On the break day between this and the final day, you may do whatever you want until dinner time to one, or in someone's case, two members of the opposing team."

We all must've looked distraught. Of course, it was probably the worst for me because I knew exactly who was going to choose me, and I also knew that they absolutely loathed me right at that moment, which will make the punishment worse!

Once that news sunk in, the Masters then went on to explain about the new team. "Well, there's only one and a half days left, right?" Gray questioned. "Shouldn't it not matter too much?"

Makarov shook his head. "We've been informed that the last day's events will involve every member and as such each must be chosen carefully. We need to pick not only the strongest in magical power for foes like Jura, but also in strength of mind for characters like Rufus Lore."

We all nodded. "Alright…we'll have our powerhouses up first, Erza and Laxus are on. Next, today has tag-team matches. Natsu and Gajeel, as much as you hate to admit it you work extremely well together, which will give us equal footing against the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth. You two are in. As for the last member, we'll have Gray for his versatility; our jack-of-all-trades/master-of-none member, one who can support in any situation. Inigo, in case something goes wrong, you'll be our backup powerhouse."

We all nodded. "So…who's going up for today's matches?" I asked.

"Natsu and Gajeel are going to be going up against the Twin Dragons," he explained.

We all nodded and dispersed, with the Dragon Slayers preparing for their match. The other matches today were uneventful. Blue Pegasus' Mystery Man and Ichiya beat Team Quatro Puppy, basically securing them for last place in the Games. Next was Kagura and Millianna from Mermaid Heel vs Lyon Vastia and Yuka Suzuki from Lamia Scale, in which Kagura wasn't holding back once again, which, in my opinion, showed a good lack of restraint once she was set off. Maybe it was something to use as an advantage later, but whatever. Mermaid Heel won.

Finally, we had the battle of the Dragon Slayers. This fight was spectacular, if a bit…I'm not sure the term; roller-coaster-y? At first it looked like they were winning, then they were losing, then they were winning again, and then it looked like they lost, and then they both got back up, and then Gajeel pissed off, and then Natsu ended up making the Twin Dragons his bitches.

The last part of the battle couldn't help but make me smile. "Jeez, that guy…" Gray started.

"Natsu certainly…doesn't know when he's showing off too much," I added. "Oh well, more fun for us, I guess."

As the Twin Dragons unleashed their ultimate attack, Natsu countered with his own, completely overpowering theirs and defeating them, earning Fairy Tail ten points and putting us narrowly into 1st place with 45 points, with Sabertooth following in suite with 44 points at 2nd place.

It seemed that I succeeded; today had turned out better than the last, though mostly because of my teammates. I could only hope the final day ended so beautifully.

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hey guys, how's it going?**

 **Hey, what'd you guys think of the alterations I made to today? I'm infinitely curious and would love to hear your opinions int he form of a review!**

 **Anyway, other than that...tomorrow is going to be my take on the Fairies Penalty Game, so if that doesn't interest you, and I promise every punishment with be the same and it's not _my_ dirty mind making this up, then you can go ahead and skip it.**

 **Other than that, I just hope you're all looking forward to the Penalty Game and also to the final day of the Game Magic Games!**


	27. 27 She-Devil's Penalty Game

Ah the break day; those were good times before the atrocities that would occur after. However, it didn't seem like that at the time. The former members of Fairy Tail A were dragged out of bed and brought in a line to meet our fate. We stood facing our punishers, and once Makarov gave the word, they starting picking out their prey.

Gajeel chose Natsu, of course. Laxus chose Elfman; they would both end up having to do menial tasks the entire day. Cana chose Lucy. Juvia chose Gray. That left Mirajane with Erza and I, as Jellal had to leave the team.

"Alright everyone, for the purposes of planning for tomorrow, you have until six tonight. Have fun!" Makarov called as he fled from Fairy Tail A's wrath.

Mirajane marched us to somewhere open, where people could watch. She also had someone call Jason the reporter and his cameramen. She pointed to me. "You, sit," she ordered, which I obeyed quickly.

She then used transformation magic turn Erza's clothes into that of a slutty maid. Full of confidence (because she did this a lot apparently) Erza felt that the challenge would be easy. Mirajane let off an evil smirk before she summoned rope and bound Erza's hands behind her back and also her ankles before forcing her to the ground to show off her…private clothing…

"Don't get so comfortable. We're going to play a little game. It's called the 'Maid Being Punished' game."

"Isn't that what this was anyway?" I heard Erza mutter, though Mirajane saw this as an insult, turning into her Satan Soul and spanking the woman.

"Peasant maid! It seems you want to be punished further!" she yelled, spanking her again and again. When she noticed me watching, she whipped her attention to me. "Liking what you see?" she questioned.

"…Do you want an honest answer?" I asked cautiously, not wanting the same punishment.

"Of course, _nakama_."

"I feel like I'm watching a very bizarre porno. And not even one that shows any skin," I admitted, Erza giving me a glare.

"Don't you dare make this worse!" she demanded before being silenced with another slap.

"Quiet, peasant maid!" she returned her attention to me. "Head down!" she yelled, which I again obeyed. "You'll feel the same as her soon enough."

I sighed. "And so the old Mirajane has returned, and I think I'm on her bad side…" I moaned my head sinking further. Some time passed and Mira sat on a crate, using Erza, still bound, as a footrest before we heard Jason arriving, probably after hearing what was going on.

"Where were you?" Mirajane demanded.

"Sorry, I had to cover the rest of the Fairy Penalty Game! It seems everyone thought their punishment was the _coolest_!" he called. "What is it you need, cool lady?"

She pointed to me. "How would you like to give the ladies exactly what they want?" she asked.

"You can't be serious…" I moaned.

"You've earned this, nakama," she retorted, transforming my clothes to nothing but shorts. "Now, pose for me."

The lacrima-cameras were already set up and aiming at me, with Jason seemingly doing a live commentary for this "Fairy Penalty Game" at the same time, explaining mine and Erza's punishment.

I grimaced. "And if I refuse?"

"Well…you can always switch places with Titania," she offered deviously as I thought I even heard Erza whimper. I sighed, opting to do as she says, flexing my abs a bit and making a pose.

"This is so degrading…" I groaned as the first picture was taken.

"No, no, no; you've gotta look happier. Otherwise you'll come off as a stick in the mud!" the She-Devil complained.

I sighed once again, and slowly cracked a false smile, with the same picture being taken. A new pose and new picture; it seemed with each one my dignity was being cut down bit by bit.

By the eighth one, I had grown sick of it. "Is that enough pictures?" I questioned.

"Not in the slightest; we still have to get the full-body shots. Go ahead and lie down for me, _nakama_."

"Would you _stop_ using that against me?" I snapped before taking a deep breath and obeying the order to lie down.

About thirty pictures later and the clock struck five-thirty. She took her feet from Erza's ass. "You are free to go, peasant," she said as she cut her bonds. Erza didn't even try to help me.

"I'll get you back after the Games! I swear it!" she called as she scrambled away from the scene, with a crowd of perverted guys following her closely, much to her dismay. I stood.

"I guess I'll meet you at dinner then," I said, starting to walk away.

"Where do you think you're going?" Mirajane questioned.

"You said we were free to go, right?"

"I said that she was; you still need punishment."

I made a face behind her back like "Oh gods what next?" but thankfully she didn't see it.

"Did you hear me? I said you-"

"I still need punishment; alright, fine," I submitted. "Listen, if this has to do with the other night, then I-"

"It has nothing to do with it," she insisted as she reverted to her normal form and put clothes back on me with her magic. "Now then, you'll treat me to dinner immediately."

"Um…what's the catch?" I inquired.

"What catch?"

"There's got to be a catch, right? You seemed so eager to humiliate me before," I explained, getting a disinterested look from her. "What? Are you gonna force me to eat raw Gorian meat? Or maybe some sludge you found on the side of the road?"

"No, just dinner," she insisted. "Of course, if you want to take a boat cruise, then there should be one leaving soon."

"…I'll take dinner," I said before she locked her arm with mine.

"Good, then let's get on with it."

She took me to a restaurant that was like an outdoor café, except it was with food and not coffee. Anyway, the entire time I was cautious, looking at each bite carefully to check for poison or something, but nothing was wrong. I mean maybe she told the cook to spit in it, but I wouldn't know that because it would've been cooked off.

Mirajane seemed to notice this anxiety. "You know as much as it's cute that you're scared, there's no reason for it," she twirled her knife a bit. "Nothing's wrong."

"Then why? Why'd you want to eat alone with me if you're so angry with me?" She didn't answer. "Come on, Mira, you're freaking me out more with this than with the porno attitude. What's the deal? Why'd you make me just buy you dinner when you could do so many other things with this punish-"

"Because I wanted at least one nice dinner with you in case you left Fairy Tail after the Games!" she interrupted, hanging her head. "I want so badly for you to stay, but you've been spending nights away from Fairy Tail and with that Kagura girl so much, and you wouldn't fight her like you would another enemy because of your past with her, and…" she trailed off, her voice becoming shaky. I just barely saw tears in her eyes before she turned away.

I rushed over to her side and wrapped my arms around her. By the way, I left the sling at the room. "Whoa, hey, come on, please don't cry Mira," I pleaded.

"You're scaring me, Inigo. I don't want to see another part of me die. I don't want any more family to leave…" she sobbed, burying her face into my chest.

I petted her hair gently so as to soothe her. "Mira…" I tried to form the endless words that were spiraling in my head, but I just couldn't. I didn't want to try and reason with her; that would only have made things worse. I could only let the moment pass.

Soon, her sobs ceased, but neither of us broke away. "…Please don't leave…" she begged.

"I won't. I promise," I said before taking a deep breath. "Hey, nakama…I couldn't leave even if I wanted to," I assured her. "Even if Kagura agreed to leave with me so we could be a family again, I wouldn't ever leave Fairy Tail, not after the adventures I've been a part of with them. Fairy Tail is too addicting for me to let go of it now."

"…"

"But…I still need to try and work things out with Kagura, she was my first family, and I want her to stay my family, even if we separate again. I can't just leave it at this. I'll do everything in my power to do it before the end of the Games, but if I can't…then I'll just leave it as it is."

"…No…it would be better for you to keep trying to convince her," she said softly. "I won't mind anymore, so long as you keep your promise."

I nodded. "Thank you. And…I'll try not to get on your bad side again…if nothing than for my own safety."

She chuckled at that, and we sat there in that position for a long time. About twenty minutes passed, and Mirajane had fallen asleep leaning on me. I chuckled when I realized this. I picked her up and walked out, leaving the money for the meal of course. As I walked through the city, I saw the clock: 7:00 already.

"Man, time flies…" I mumbled as I continued toward the stadium. Along the way, I also happened upon Kagura, who was heading the opposite way. Nothing really happened, just a quick glare for her that I ignored. I was tempted to try and talk her, but something told me that unless I had something new to say then it would just end up like last time, so I refrained.

Once I entered the stadium and I went to Fairy Tail's section, I saw some of my guildmates snickering at me. I ignored them too and laid up Mirajane in a bed. She had done enough for the day I'd say.

Almost as soon as I set her down, Erza came with a sword. "Time for payback," she said, though I stopped her.

"After the Games, remember?" I asked, blocking her way. After a moment of visual examination, Erza smirked.

"Worked things out yet?" she asked, though she knew the answer already.

"Yeah, I'd say. How'd planning for tomorrow go?"

"It hasn't started yet. Gajeel, Gray, and Natsu aren't here yet. They were here an hour ago and then they disappeared along with Lucy and Happy."

"I see. Well, it's probably something-"

"Bone-headed," she interrupted.

"I was going to say important."

"Either or."

With that, as if on cue, Natsu and company burst in. "Gramps!" he yelled. "We've got bad news!"

"Oh? And what could be worse than the First Master yelling because of late planners?" he demanded.

"Lucy's been kidnapped!" he yelled.

"And you didn't stop the kidnappers because?" I asked.

"Because they weren't really kidnappers. It was the Rune Knights; they arrested her for some reason," Gray clarified. "They say it's for something called the Eclipse Project."

"Actually she was arrested to stop the Eclipse Project from being used. Both her and that former Sabertooth Celestial Spirit Mage were taken captive by the army," Gajeel said.

"We need to rescue her now!" Natsu yelled, though Erza knocked him to the ground. "Get off of me!"

"We can't act rashly," she said before turning to Makarov. "What's the plan, Master?"

 **Author's Note:**

 **You know, whatever I said back before now, _this_ is when I wonder what the hell I'm writing.**

 **I wonder if how felt felting typing "spanking the woman" about Erza Scarlet is the same feeling the artist who drew this omake felt when he drew the event happening.**

 **Alas, this was pretty much just a filler chapter that I thought would be fun to write and it ended up just being a little bit disturbing about how easily it came to me. Honestly though, the omake is pretty good for Cana and Wendy, which was one of the pairs if you didn't know, that makes the omake worth reading. Also, in the omake, the bet punishment is decided after the Grand Magic Games, not on the break day between Day 4 and 5, but whatever.**

 **Anyway, I just really hope you guys are looking forward to the next chapter!**


	28. 28 Grand Magic Game

"A pincer attack?"

"Yes that's correct. They said the King will have an audience with us about her release if we win the Grand Magic Games, but we can't count on that. We'll have two teams. One is an infiltration team to rescue Lucy and this Yukino from the shadows. That'll be Mirajane, Wendy, the Exceeds, and-"

"Let me go, Gramps!" Natsu pleaded. "I wanna help Lucy!"

"You already have a responsibility in the Grand Magic Games, boy," Makarov insisted.

"But-"

"I'm sure the others can take care of your teammate, Natsu," he said. "Now then, the last member will be-"

"Just put Cloud Nine in for me! I trust him well enough, and I wanna help Lucy myself!" Natsu continued.

We were all sick of his begging at this point and admittedly it wasn't a bad idea, but…well, it wasn't my decision anyway. Still, the Master considered this. He turned to Mavis. "What do you think, First Master?"

"I think you should let your children follows what they believe is right," she answered. She turned to me. "I trust that they won't disappoint," she shot me a smile.

Makarov nodded. "Alright then, Natsu will be the final member of the infiltration team. Perhaps this works out for the best. Inigo, how far along is your telepathy magic?"

"It's adequate," I answered. "If we can meet up for me to set up a quick link, I'm sure city-wide communication between the actual fighters won't be a problem.

"Good, then we can also use Warren to help communicate. Warren, you'll also have the job of keeping in contact with the infiltration team."

"Got it," the man replied.

"Then, I suppose it's settled. Team Fairy Tail members, meet with Mavis for the strategy for tomorrow."

We all nodded and the members met up with Mavis waiting for us. She pointed to me. "Set up your link if you will, Alter Fairy."

"Yes ma'am," I said. "I'll…" I tried to remember what to do from the book. "Um…just hang on."

Soon I remembered, placing my hand atop their head and linking our brains in a sense with a magic circle, and in turn the brains of the rest of the members too.

"There, that should do it."

"Good. Now then, onto strategy."

It took about an hour and a lot of debating on who was the best fit for which opponent, but we all eventually came to our clashes. Guess who mine was…that's right, it was Jura, obviously…no, but seriously; I got stuck with Kagura.

"Are you sure that you can handle her?" Gray had asked when Mavis chose me.

"You have my permission to use your Shine," Mavis said. I smirked.

"Yeah right; I won't even need it."

"Inigo, it's that misguided confidence that got us a narrow draw in the first place," Erza reminded.

"Yeah, but this time…I'm going to dominate her; I swear on my parents' grave."

"Good, that's something you can't argue with. I'll leave you that task then," Mavis said before continuing with the strategy.

With the meeting adjourned and all of us relatively tired and having to rest for tomorrow, I, like the smart guy that I am, opted to not go to sleep. I actually tried to sneak out, but I was caught by the Fairy Queen. "What do you want?" I questioned quietly, so as not to wake the others.

"I want to know where my teammate is going at two in the morning," she replied, equally quietly.

"…"

"Inigo, you're going to talk to Kagura, aren't you?"

"…I'm going to try one more time to convince her to back off from this pointless obsession that she has, but if it doesn't work, then I'll have to free her of her inner demons by force, literally."

"That sounds painful."

"I meant inner as in in her sword," I clarified. "Anyway, I'll be back before long. I promise," I said, turning my back to her.

"…Alright, but don't get her too angry. You've seen what she can do."

"I won't; that'll be your job if she ever finds out about you and Simon," I said back walking off.

I went to a nearby window and hopped out and onto a thundercloud. I flew around the stadium for a bit until I found the Mermaid Heel rooms, and soon found Kagura's room.

I slowly made my way in, and, as silently as possible, walked over to her bed.

* * *

And so it seemed the day had arrived. The final day of the Grand Magic Games, with the final teams already scattered for the Grand Magic Game, a battle royale between every team to determine the winner. Since one team could potentially defeat everyone else, everyone had a fair shot of winning.

And what was the First Master's grand plan to lead us to victory? We wait in one spot…yeah, that's the gist. We waited for our enemies to get into the proper positions to strike.

" _What are they doing?"_ Makarov demanded. " _They're supposed to be winning here!"_

Relax Makarov; we've got this.

Time passed and only a few participants were being knocked out, exactly as planned. Finally, we got the word; move out.

We all sprang into action, quickly separating and dashing toward our specified opponents. Fortunately I only had one opponent other than Kagura; Sherria Blendy, who I ran into as she defeated Risley form Mermaid Heel.

We stood facing each other for only a moment before we both agreed. "One attack," we both said, charging straight toward each other. She unleashed her signature Heavenly Gathering of Clouds toward me. The sheer magical power apparently astounded Erza and the like, but to me, it was child's play. I dove straight into the attack, using my own clouds to negate any damage that would've been done to me had I not. I trust my hand forward into her face.

"Sorry, but it seems like my clouds are stronger," I said as I smashed her into the wall forcefully. As she fell to the ground, unable to heal herself until she had done so, I made a chop at her neck, knocking her out cold. "You may be able to heal, but a one-hit-knock-out will still get you every time," I said before moving onto my next objective.

"What's everyone's status? Gray, have you engaged yet?" I asked.

" _Trying to concentrate here!"_ he yelled through his mind just before an explosion went off in the library, where he was fighting. I nodded to myself.

"What about everyone else?"

" _I wasn't able to get Sting and he got Lyon,_ " Laxus admitted. " _On my way to the Lightning God now._ "

" _I'm heading to my position_ ," Erza replied.

Gajeel didn't reply, which I took to assume that he had begun his fight with the Shadow Dragon. As I jogged, I saw the person Laxus had missed. I was tempted to fight him. "Are you looking for trouble?" I questioned, stuffing my hand in my pocket to mimic him. He looked disinterested.

"You'd be too much trouble. I don't have time to deal with you now," he said, starting to walk. I followed his example, with us simply walking past each other. I couldn't afford to waste precious magic energy dealing with him alone.

I soon got to my position, where I was supposed to meet Kagura, but strangely, she wasn't there.

" _Not good!_ " Erza's voice was in my head.

"What is it?"

" _I've engaged Kagura!"_ she yelled.

"What?" I questioned, quickly hopping onto a stormcloud and flew up to the highest point I could find, one of the clock towers. I landed on it and looked around, soon finding a Parthenon being quickly demolished from their fight. In fact, it was a three-way battle between Erza, Kagura, and Minerva, Erza's proper opponent. "First Master, what are the odds of this?"

"… _Only 10%, but don't worry, it can still be salvaged,"_ she answered. _"In fact…yes, this may prove to be an advantage so you two can work together to defeat two separated opponents."_

" _Wait,_ " Erza stopped me from pursuing. " _Minerva is leaving for now. Let me…soften her up for you_ ," she offered.

Reluctantly, I allowed this, sitting on the edge of the clock tower and watching the battle. "While I'm here, what's the rescue team's status?"

" _We're having trouble reaching them. There must be interference within the palace,"_ Makarov stated.

I nodded. "It wouldn't surprise me; that's where all of the government's dirty secrets are," I said as I continued to watch the ongoing battle between Erza and Kagura, reminiscing on the words Kagura and I shared the night before.

 **Author's Note:**

 **Yes, there is a reason I left out Inigo and Kagura's conversation, don't worry. It's for dramatic effect, so just bear with me. Anyway, next time, the finale of the Grand Magic Games arc and then onto the Dragon Festival arc...I don't get why they aren't separate in canon, but you guys know what I mean.**

 **Actually, this particular story is quickly coming to a close. I'll go into more detail next time, but after this we won't have all that much, but I promise that I'm going to put my damnedest into making these last arcs the best they can be, especially the Tartarus arc, or...well, you'll see.**

 **Anyway, I'm not going to specifically ask for reviews this time because they'd be much better off for next time. See ya then by the way!**


	29. 29 Five Lights

The battle between the swordswomen continued as I thought back to the words Kagura and I shared the night before.

 _I hopped into her room through the window and, silently as possible, made my way over to her bed. I tapped her on the arm a couple times, which did nothing. I chuckled, remembering that she was a pretty heavy sleeper and she…still had that awkward sleeping position…_

 _I sighed. I'd hoped she would stop putting one of the pillows between her legs; it's weird, but whatever. I poked her cheeks a little, and then a little more until she stirred._

 _She slowly opened her eyes, quite peacefully actually, but as soon as she saw me standing over her, she burst up, about to scream, but I thrust my hand across her mouth to stop her. "Would you shut up?!" I demanded._

 _She forced my hand away and glared at me. "What the_ hell _are you doing here?!"_

In the current time, the battle wasn't going well; every armor that Erza was using was being countered by Kagura, including her Heaven's Wheel Armor.

" _Listen, I only wanted to talk," I stated. "I don't want us to be enemies after tomorrow."_

" _Anyone who's on_ his _side is my enemy!" she snapped. "I don't care who they are!"_

" _Kagura, listen to me, this isn't you. You're being influenced by something."_

" _Ha! Really? And what would that be?"_

" _Your sword. It's giving off a dark presence, and I believe that it's putting these thoughts into your head. This isn't you."_

" _Swords can't control people, Asher," she wrote to accusation off. "If that's all you had to say, then leave me alone and get out of here."_

" _Kagura…" I warned._

" _What do you want me to do, Inigo? Just throw my arms around you in joy or relief? No, I refuse to do so with someone with such twisted vision."_

" _Twisted vision?"_

" _You've had countless opportunities to fulfill your promise, but you refused to do so. You've even gone so far as to side with the devil you've been chasing. How is that not twisted?"_

" _Unlike you, Kagura, I had an open mind. Unlike you, I don't think so little of human life so as to-"_

" _It's because I value life that this has to be done!" she interrupted. "It's because I actually valued the life and love of my brother that I_ have _to do this."_

" _No you don't. Please, just hear Jellal out and let him try and make amends. I know that he would do everything in his power to do so should he ever meet you. I swear that he'd try to atone for his sins, try and get you to forgive him and-"_

" _There are some sins that can't be forgiven!" she snapped. "That incudes murdering an innocent person…" she eyed me. "And leaving your family behind."_

" _Do you remember nothing else about me?"_

" _I remember a void of both of my brothers leaving me, one of them doing so on purpose…pathetic…"_

 _I forcefully grabbed her arm. "Look, I may not be perfect, but you better_ stop _acting like that means I'm worthless!" I snapped. She didn't respond, just looked me in the eye with those defiant hazel eyes. "You know, I thought that if I ever found you alive, we'd be able to go back to the way things were before. I thought that you'd be able to look toward the future than to keep regretting a past that neither of us could help. I thought I knew you, but-"_

" _Well you don't!" she snapped, yanking her arm away._

In the real world, the match had gone on for quite a while, and Erza had certainly softened Kagura up for me. I removed my sling and jacket and lowered myself on a thundercloud once Erza gave the go ahead. As Kagura was about to swing her sword, I stopped her. "Hey, Little Kagura!" I called, causing her to look at me with wide eyes. I shot up my right hand into Fairy Tail's symbol, high into the air and as proud as I could. The symbol pissed her off so much, it was an insult to her.

" _You're right, I don't know you anymore…"_

" _Then why don't you-"_

" _But even though I may not know you…even if we never make amends, and even if I never see you again after tomorrow…I will always love you like family. I'll always be right by your side in spirit, guiding you. And no matter how far away you are, I'll always be looking out for you, watching over you."_

Kagura dashed toward me in a blind rage, leaping up and swinging downward at me.

" _Because that's what it means to be…Fairy Tail."_

I forced my magic power into my arm and blocked the attack without so much as flinching. I took my other arm and grabbed hers.

"And there's one other thing that I forgot to mention about Fairy Tail," I stated, white lightning being released from my body as I lifted her over my head. "We don't take kindly to being called worthless!" I yelled, smashing her into the ground below me.

I hopped off of my thundercloud and formed two swords as Kagura stood and Minerva engaged Erza behind me.

"So come on, Little Kagura; I'm about to show you that you'll never beat me in a real fight."

A look of pure rage was on her face. "I'll never beat you? How about two days ago when you barely survived?!" she countered.

"Because I was protecting innocents that you put in danger. There are no such people here now."

She was shaking in anger. "Well fine! Then it's time to go all-out, isn't it?!" she yelled, unable to control herself anymore as she unsheathed the Archenemy, a flash erupting as she did so before she dashed toward me and swung. I blocked the strike once again, and the shockwave went past me. Thankfully, I didn't have to take the hit again, so the attack did next to nothing other than put strain on my arms for having to block an attack from the sword.

Surprised at my lack of response, she retreated a couple steps which I closed quickly, launching a flurry of attacks, ending with a kick that sent her flying into the corner of a building.

She came out flaming as she swung yet again. I managed to block this one, but it did force me to one knee. "Thunder Devil's Rage!" I yelled to force her back. We both charged at each other once again.

Soon, we had forced each other back, and as I was about to attack again, Erza was flung into me. We both landed on the ground, and I was forced further into it as Erza, who was on top of me, blocked a strike from Kagura. I used my magic to propel us both upwards as we switched opponents for a bit.

Minerva certainly wasn't any pushover, using the same magic that she did in the Naval Battle. I opted to throw away my swords and just fight her hand-to-hand as that was her style. Actually, her attacks were too powerful for me to continuously defend against without draining my magic power so I made cheap sword-like-objects using my lightning to shoot at her to distract her.

Eventually, Erza rushed toward Minerva too, but then Kagura was after her. After Erza kicked Minerva away I grabbed her arm and swung her around to kick Kagura as well.

As both opponents stood, we were ready to face them, back-to-back, with my five swords ready and waiting in a vertical circle around me, with Erza the same facing the opposite direction. I chuckled. "Just like against Azuma, right?" I said cheerily.

"Yes, except this time there are two opponents," she commented.

"Twice the fighters, double the fun," I said with a shrug. "So how are you holding up in the fight?"

"Well, my foot got crushed under rubble and it hurts like hell, but I'll hold out. What about you?" she questioned.

"Well, my arms feel like jelly from blocking the Archenemy, but other than that I'm fine."

"That's good, but I think it's time we ended this," Erza said. I nodded.

"Is everyone ready for the big reveal?" I asked through telepathy.

" _I thought you'd ever ask_ ," Gray said. The others soon voiced their agreement.

"Aw yeah. It's time to give these guys a light show!" I yelled, with Erza mimicking my movements as we jumped into the air and kicked off each other's' feet, sending our swords with our comrades so mine were attacking Minerva and hers were attacking Kagura. I tackled Kagura away.

I chuckled. "What's so funny?!" she yelled.

"Nothing much, but I can tell the look on your face will be priceless," I said as I released my Second Origin. A massive power welled up inside me, nearly overtaking me in how much it was. I released the power around me, using it as a catalyst for the transformation.

My skin seemed to break off like glass shattering and falling as what was left was a pale color of skin. My hair grew and turned a sleek silver color, my nails grew into claws, and my teeth into fangs. My eyes turned from a gold iris with white around it to gold with black around it. Devil's wing's protruded from my back, and lining the outside of my body were constant streaks of white lightning. I yelled as the transformation started to take over my emotions as it had done in past, but I forced it under my control, returning my eyes form black back to white.

Still, the power was immense, even greater than when it was rage-induced or when it was using another's power instead of my own. My magic was released in a near-blinding white light reaching several meters out from me.

" _Second Origin Release!"_ Erza yelled.

" _I won't lose!"_ Gray called.

" _I'm all fired up!"_ Laxus said.

Chapati was heard from here. "Folks, we have four lights erupting from all around the city of Crocus right now, and we suspect. Oh! Hold on, folks! Five lights! Five lights, everyone!"

" _I'm about to show you why you should still fear me!"_ Gajeel's voice was heard.

"We have a black light, a golden one, a blue one, a red one, and all were led by the brightest white light. Hold on, is it? Could it be? Yes, it is! It's Fairy Tail! Is this the kind of power they've been hiding from us?!"

I smirked as I looked at Kagura's face. "I told you that it would be priceless," I growled.

Even more angry than before, she dashed toward me swinging the Archenemy which normally would've been impossible to block without a sword, but I did so with only an arm.

"Heh, using a devil's sword against a demon? You didn't actually think that it was going to work, did you?" I asked as I made a black sword to match hers in length.

I dashed toward her and thrust my palm into her, sending her flying into one of the buildings, crashing through it and into the building past it. She stood shakily, visibly damaged from the blow. She stumbled out of the rubble and into the open street, where I was waiting for her. She thrust her hand toward me. "Gravity Change!" she yelled, with the area around me sinking due to the increased gravity, but I simply grinned evilly.

"Pathetic," I muttered as I walked toward her, much to her dismay. In desperation, she swung toward me again, but I caught the blade. I then thrust my own into her stomach, stabbing right through. She coughed up a little bit of blood as I lifted the blade up and then stabbed it into the ground, with her along with it.

I took a deep breath, starting to walk away, awaiting the announcement that I got a certain number of points, but it never came. I had willed the sword away, and Kagura had gotten back up, holding the wound and giving me those defiant eyes.

"You should stay down. You can't fight like that," I told her.

"I don't care…I won't lose to…the enemy…" she choked out before coughing up more blood.

" _Nakagami Starlight!"_ Erza yelled, signaling the end of her battle.

" _Ice Make Unlimited: One Sided Chaotic Dance!"_ Gray's final attack was next, followed closely by Laxus.

" _Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Rolling Thunder!"_

Hell, I could see Gajeel's final attack, his " _Iron Shadow Dragon's Roar!_ " was seen from all throughout the city.

That left Kagura, still insisting on fighting me even with a stab wound plaguing her. I sighed. "Do you really want to continue?"

"Until I draw my last breath!" she spat, charging toward me, completely ignoring the wound, swinging with all of her might. I blocked the attack once again and forced her away lazily. She did this three more times.

" _Inigo, stop messing around!_ " Erza yelled through my head. I sighed.

"Alright, I guess that's it then."

I dashed toward her and uppercutted her far into the air. I then followed her up. She made a weak attempt to attack me, but I caught the blade once again and took it away from her.

"I believe that this is mine," I said as I took the hilt in my hands. "Devil Slayer Secret Art: White Rose: Hell's Thousandth Judgement!" I yelled, slashing through her. I did so again and again and again, each time forming a stroke of the 499 stroke magic circle needed for the spell. Each strike became faster and faster until I was striking at the speed that lightning comes from the sky.

" _Inigo, hurry!"_ Gray yelled as I continued.

" _Quit messing around!"_ Laxus insisted.

Then I heard all of Fairy Tail in my ears. " _Finish it!"_

I rose above her as she looked at me with half fear and half shock as the magic circle became visible. I then raised the Archenemy high into the sky as the other 500 strikes took place in the form of lightning bolt strikes from the sky above the magic circle.

I then dove downward, the last lightning bolt coming down at the same time and enveloping me as I slashed through her one last time, landing hard and forming a large crater where I landed.

I twirled the sword a bit before placing it where the sheath would've been as Kagura finally felt the true power of the attack and was shot out of the sky, mere meters away from me. Her body was bruised and battered, completely limp as she stared wide-eyed at the sky.

I took a deep breath as I returned to my regular form, completely wasted. My own body had a fair amount of cuts and bruises, and the exertion from using that much magic power, even if it was in the Demon's Echo form, took its toll. I just barely managed to fly up to the clock tower to get my jacket and sling and put it back on before ten minutes passed and large white light was seen in the sky.

Sabertooth's symbol was being broadcast, showing where our last opponent was waiting. I hopped down onto the ground and started limping toward the area, meeting up with the others as I did.

We all saw Sting Eucliffe waiting for us. We must've looked pretty sorry, all of us were beaten up and barely standing. Sting simply smirked.

"I could drop all of you like flies, and get just enough points to win," he stated. None of us responded. "You all would fall if I breathed on you wrong. You know that don't you?"

Again, none of us responded, which, this time, unnerved him. He lit up his magic as we stood defiant against him. He took a step forward, sweating. He took another step forward, more confident this time, and then another, and then another. However, then he just fell to his hands and knees.

"I…can't do it…I'm not strong enough," he admitted. "I…surrender to you…Fairy Tail."

 **Author's Note:**

 **So uh...I had the Super Android 13 DBZ movie on the brain while writing this, so...yeah...**

 **Anyway, I'm really curious as to how you guys think I handled this and how I spun the whole event to my liking. Go ahead and leave a review if you can and tell what you liked and what you didn't; they're always appreciated.**

 **Anyway, I'd been looking forward to this one for the longest time. I'd had multiple ideas on how to go about it, for instance one of the protoype versions involved Inigo and Erza sticking together in fighting their opponents instead of eventually separating as they did here. Erza would've been taken out by Minerva and Inigo would've finished her off, but then I thought that that would've ruined the whole things about Fairy Tail never having lost a member in the event, so I scrapped the idea.**

 **Oh yeah, didn't I say I'd go into more detail abou the rest of this story?**

 **Alright, so really quick; we have the Dragon King Festival still for right next. Since it mostly dealt with Natsu and the Dragon Slayer's trouble, I'm going to be focusing less on the battle and more on the characters that my OC is connected to.**

 **Anyway, after that there's going to be two original mini arcs, one of which I'm still writing, and then we're jumping straight into the Eclipse Celestial Spirit arc. Now, I'm in the process of catching up on a year's worth of Fairy Tail that I missed so I'm currently watching the Eclipse Celestial Spirit arc while I'm writing the originals so yeah.**

 **After that, for reason you'll find out, I'm going to be skipping over the Sun Village and Succubus Eye arcs because they don't really involve much for my character. During those arcs, I'm going to be delving into the full backstory of my OC which will lead into the Tartarus arc, or the part that he'll be active in it, and finally, during the year-long break I'm going to have my final arc take place which will end the story.**

 ***breathes in deeply* Wow! That was a lot. I really hope you don't see that as spoiling, just...you know, just to keep you guys updated on the creative process.**


	30. 30 Aftermath

"I…can't do it…I'm not strong enough," he admitted. "I…surrender to you…Fairy Tail."

The news was overwhelming, but we were all so tired at this point that it took everything to not collapse in relief. Still, there was still some heavy stuff.

"But…now I'll never see Lector again…" Sting muttered. Erza cleared her throat.

"Actually, you're in luck," she motioned behind us, and Millianna of Mermaid Heel came running toward us, carrying one of Sabertooth's Exceed.

"Lector!" Sting called, tears in his eyes.

"Sting! The Exceed called back, wrestling free and running toward him, the two embracing happily.

Despite the relief of the Games, all of us had a sense of uneasiness. "Hey," Gray spoke up. "Did anyone see the signal from the rescue team?" he asked.

None of us answered at first; Erza was the first. "I didn't see it; my view was blocked most of the time anyway. Anyone else?"

"Same here, blocked," Gajeel agreed.

Laxus shook his head. "I was watching the entire time except for when Jura socked me the first time, and I didn't see it."

"And I was watching while I was waiting for Erza. My view was as clear as it could be, so I would've seen it."

Sting seemed to overhear. "Um…if you don't mind me asking, but why didn't Natsu participate today?"

We were all, rightfully so, a little hesitant to answer a Tiger. "He…had a friend who needed help," I answered, leaving it at that. I looked toward the palace. "I'm more worried about Mira anyway…"

"If things are taking this long, then something must've gone wrong," Gajeel reasoned.

"Should we go help them?"

I shook my head. "They can handle it. Fairy Tail wouldn't be beaten by some royal pushovers."

"Even still…"

I sighed. "Well, it's not like we know where they are in their plan anyway, so we couldn't help if we tried, plus we're all still beat up from the Games," I stated.

Suddenly, an announcement went off all throughout the city. "Attention guild magi. I request that all of you meet in the city's central square at eleven tonight. I beg you, do not return to your guild quite yet. Please make sure that everyone needing help in the city is accounted for. That is all."

We all looked at each other. "Wonder what's up?" Gray wondered.

"Wait, everyone needing help in the city…oh shit! Kagura!" I snapped at myself for forgetting as I broke into a run toward where I left her, no doubt alienating my teammates.

I took a bit to get there, but five minutes down the line, I was standing over her, her eyes closed as if she were asleep, or…worse…but that was proven wrong when I checked her breathing. She lazily opened her eyes to look at me briefly before closing them again. I helped her to a sitting position.

"Hey, I need you to apply pressure, Kagura," I told her, moving her hand over the stab wound. I wrapped her other arm around my shoulders and helped her stand, both of us a bit shaky.

We only took a couple steps before she found the pain unbearable. I sighed, accepting the burden, and picking her up fully, walking all the way back to the stadium where the medical supplies were.

With nowhere else crossing my mind to go, I went to Fairy Tail's infirmary. Strangely only one other person was there, Erza, who was the most injured from the Games other than maybe Gajeel, but he was too stubborn to come to the infirmary first, leaving Erza.

Actually, I happened to walk in at an awkward time, when she was still being bandaged without her top on…yeah…

At first, she looked disturbed by this, but I only shrugged. "I've only eyes for one person, sorry," I said simply. "Besides, I've seen you as a slutty maid. I think I can handle anything from you after that," I finished, laying up Kagura in a bed and stealing half of Erza's remaining bandages. While she looked annoyed at the reference, she remained quiet as she bandaged herself.

"You expect to treat her by yourself?"

"Well…I may not be an expert, but I know my way around a body," I said, getting a weird look. "You took that wrong."

"That I did," she admitted as I started work.

I started by again making sure that she was breathing; that was always a good first step.

"Alright, so I guess we should treat the stab wound, huh?" I asked more myself than anyone else.

I started to unbutton her shirt, and was about halfway down when she grabbed my hand with one of hers, her eyes suddenly wide open and glaring. "What…are you…doing?" she asked slowly.

"Don't tell me you fell asleep on the way here. You heard me, right?" Her glare remained, but in her eyes I saw a flicker of confusion. "Look, Kagura, if you want to slowly bleed out that your choice, but if you want to be-"

The bleeding out part it seemed was enough for her to let go, getting red in the face as I took off her blazer. "Um…Inigo, are you sure you don't want me to do that?" Erza questioned upon seeing Kagura's face. I shook my head.

"No thanks. I don't see why she looks so embarrassed: I've seen her naked when we bathed before."

"Twelve years…" Kagura muttered.

"Come on, twelve years is nothing!" I said cheerily, giving a light slap on the shoulder, something which sent a shock down her whole body, and her eyes opened wide in mild agony.

"You two bathed together as well? I thought only Natsu, Gray, and I did that…" Erza trailed off.

"Well, back then we had an inn to run and limited water, so we had to use it sparingly. Bathing together was one of the easier ways to be honest," I recalled. "Alright, the nasty wound is all good. Erza, do you have a spare shirt or something so she doesn't have to wear one covered in dirt and blood?"

"I might, but don't you think that it would be easier to just get one of her guildmates to-"

"They're too far away…" I moaned.

However, as if on cue, three of them stormed in and pointed at me. "I knew it!" one of them claimed.

"We knew you'd try and kidnap our Kagura!"

"Kidnap?" I questioned, though they only replied by mauling me and throwing me into the wall, bashing my head against it, and then separating Kagura from me. "Ah, oh…ow…" I moaned. "What's the big idea?"

Two of them picked her up, one on the shoulders and one on the legs, while the other just pointed at me. "And to violate her in front of a guildmate too!"

I looked to Erza for support, but she was simply shaking her head in shame. "Don't forget her shirt," she said to them as they picked it up.

I stood. "I mean, come on, Little Kagura, tell them the truth, would you?"

She opened her eyes to look at me, before pointing exaggeratedly weak at me. "Enemy," she said, sealing the deal as they took her out of the room.

I simply stared off after her, a defeated look on my face. "I…can't tell if she was kidding or not…"

"She wasn't," Erza clarified, shrugging. "Oh well, there's always next year's tournament to make amends."

I hung my head, soon recovering and holding up the Archenemy which I had laid against the wall. "Oh well, I guess all I can do for her anymore is to fix this."

"What's wrong with it?"

"A demon is sealed inside of it. I'm not sure if it was the demon's work or if it was being contained within it, but in any case, I should be able to absorb its power to purge the sword of its evil," I explained.

"Have you done it before?"

I shook my head. "I've only read about it in the grimoire from which I learned my magic, so…it might take a while."

"Well, you have until eleven," Erza reminded me as I sat down with the sword in my front of me, unsheathed and still radiating the darkness.

I took a deep breath. "Keep an eye on me for a while, I'm not sure how conscious I'll be."

She nodded, and I began the process.

 **Author's Note:**

 **Ah, don't you love the scenes when you're trying to give your OC a little bit of dignity? That's happened quite a lot lately.**

 **Anyway, the reason this chapter is so late is because I wanted to finish writing the original arcs first, and I have done so last night, so there you go. Also, if you have no interest in original arcs, then come back, after the Dragon King Festival one, in chapter 44, because that'll be the firstof the Eclipse Celestial Spirit arc.**

 **Anhoozle, if you watn, leave a review to tell me what you guys thought. I know I' had a ton of fun writing this arc and would love you hear you responses!**

 **Other than that, I hope you're all looking forward to the next chapter.**


	31. 31 Failed Replication

After I was finished and I felt a surge in strength momentarily, I quickly bandaged my arms a bit and maybe the cuts on my face lazily before slinging the sword over my shoulder, hooking it to my back before putting my jacket and sling back on and leaving the infirmary with Erza.

We had all gathered in the square at eleven, as per the announcement's orders. It seemed to be a huge deal, as royal guards were placed all at the front, preventing anyone from getting too close.

"Attention, wizards of Fiore!" a voice was heard over the clamor. We all looked up to see a rather stout man standing atop an elevated area, looking down on us. "I am your King, Toma E. Fiore, and I'm afraid I have dire news."

Shocked murmurs of King's appearance were heard.

"Not all of you may believe me, but this kingdom is in a great deal of danger; a total of 10,000 dragons are about to invade Fiore, and we need your help to defeat them."

"Dragons?" I questioned. Those of us in Fairy Tail exchanged nervous glances.

"What about the Black Dragon we fought on Tenrou, we didn't even scratch it…" Cana murmured.

"And 10,000 of them now…?"

The King spoke up again. "The royal family has been preparing a counter mechanism, the Eclipse Project will wipe out the vast majority of the dragon invaders, but we suspect that perhaps several hundred will survive. We ask…no, I as just a powerless human, humbly ask for your help, all of you."

All of us were speechless, though I was the first to speak. I smirked. "Dragons?" I called. "They're nothing against us!" I yelled, rallying everyone else to scream in pride at once.

The roars of agreement seemed to move the King, and he broke into tears. "Kapo…" he muttered, silencing us.

"What did he say?" someone questioned, though the rest of us refrained.

I shook my head. "Alright, everyone needs to take position around the city. When the dragons come, we should be spread out!" I yelled. "If not, then they could annihilate us all in one fell swoop!"

Everyone seemed to murmur their agreement and split off with their guild, with Fairy Tail being no different.

And so we waited, and waited, and waited…and waited…and-

Anyway, once proper suspense had been built up, we heard the first roar, and it brought back bad memories. Just then, a gigantic flame crashed down in front of us. At first I thought that it was a remnant of a roar, but instead, it just turned out to be an entire dragon made of fire.

I quickly took off my sling and threw it away. Makarov cracked his knuckles. "Allow me the first swing, kids," he said, growing to his Titan form and beginning to punch the dragon, however, after the first, his hand was lit on fire. Everyone panicked, running around in total chaos wondering what to do and…actually, not really; we all just kind of waited for the fire on his hand to go out.

"Damn, alright, well there goes our strength match-up…" Cana trailed off.

"This isn't any different from Acnologia at all…" Bickslow complained.

Laxus stepped forward. "Alright guys, I'll handle this one."

"You sure?" I questioned. "If I could give you my lightning, I would, but…"

"Don't sweat it; you put on a good light show during the Games," he said as he lit up his magic. The dragon laughed.

"You, tiny human, believe that you can defeat me? Atlas Flame?" I mocked.

"Bastard; don't you go underestimating a Fairy!" Laxus yelled, somehow making that line sound badass…then again, Laxus beat a Wizard Saint, so I guess that makes him the resident badass of the guild.

In any case, Laxus took the offensive. "Lightning Dragon's Breakdown Fist!" he yelled as he struck the beast hard, shooting a shower of lightning, which made a nice midnight snack for me, all around the area.

However, despite the brilliance of the attack, the dragon looked unfazed. "Something tells me fire and lightning aren't good match-ups," someone commented.

"Damn…"

Suddenly, a dragon that was flying overhead roared at us, and these strange objects fell from under it. Under closer inspection once they landed, we soon deduced that they were eggs. We figured this out after the first one hatched, which freaked me out beyond belief.

"Ah! Alien spawn!" I yelled in fear, zapping all of the other eggs within my sight, to no avail as they either weren't affected or hatched by the time the attack connected. I shivered. "I hate eggs…"

"Do you…not like the way they taste?"

"What? No, I just hate chickens," I said with a smirk. "What do you say we let the Dragon Slayers handle the dragons, and us little guys focus on the hatchlings to keep them from distracting?"

"Sounds like a plan. Fairy Tail, move out!" she called to the others, who soon dispersed to deal with clumps.

I opted to follow Erza in destroying the hatchlings going for her back. We were quite a bit away from the rest of the group very quickly, the hatchlings just not giving up and being tough as nails in terms of durability. Even after three bolts to the face, they just wouldn't go down!

"I don't think the ranged approach is working, Inigo," she commented. I shrugged.

"Alright, then what say you to testing out this sword?" I asked as I unsheathed the Archenemy.

"I thought you said that shouldn't be unsheathed without good reason."

I shrugged once again. "So long that no one's around to get hurt by it, I see no problem. Besides, I want to see if it's lost its edge after I took the demon out," I said as I raised the sword, dashing toward the nearest hatchling and slashing clean through , the shockwave emitting from the blade taking out two more and knocking back a third. "Woo! Still got it!" I exclaimed as Erza caught up to me, stumbling a bit. "Whoa, hey, are you okay there?"

"Me? You'd think me incapable?" she questioned, a warning glare on her face, her body tense as if expecting a challenge.

"Well…no, but…"

Suddenly, Erza dashed toward me, her sword at the ready. Instinctively I side-stepped, allowing Erza to go past me and stab another hatchling before being knocked away by its brother. I ran to meet her as she stood.

"Damn, these guys don't give up, do they?" I questioned.

"And they don't seem to be dwindling in numbers either," Erza stated as we were surrounded by another seven of them.

We stood back to back. "Just like against Azu-"

"You used that one already, today in fact," Erza stated.

"It's still applicable though," I argued. "Anyway, let's hurry up and take these guys quickly."

She nodded and we both dashed toward our enemies, eventually cutting them down, though not before taking a mild beating ourselves. Our injuries were definitely getting in the way, and it seemed like all of the fighting was getting us nowhere as for every one we killed, two more took its place behind it.

I wracked my brain to think of something to keep us alive for longer than this, but for the life of me I couldn't think of one. Devil's Shine took way too long to charge up for something I couldn't hold off with words like these mindless monsters, plus it would completely drain me of magic power and only give us, what? A minute of rest before the next wave showed up, probably a bigger one given the enormous magic source that I would be practically broadcasting to them?

Then I thought of one that might work not only here, but throughout the entire city, maybe even weaken the dragons. "Hey, Erza, I'm gonna try something crazy."

"Yeah? What's more crazy than fighting dragons?" she questioned.

"You know Fairy Tail's ultimate deterrent magic that Makarov knows?"

"Fairy Law? Yeah, why? Did you learn it form him?" she questioned, forcing two hatchlings away.

"Nope, but I'm gonna try to replicate it like Fairy Glitter," I answered.

"Um…that's a bad idea. You might not get so lucky this time."

"Oh come on, what could go wrong?" I questioned, sending out a shockwave with my magic to give me room before taking the position of the spell and gathering up the magic necessary.

"Inigo, please stop now. You don't understand the spell enough to replicate it," Erza persisted.

"Would you relax and let me concentrate?" I questioned as she began to get busy holding off the hatchlings. Soon, I felt the magic coalesce on its own. "Strange, that's not supposed to happen…"

"Inigo! Stop it now!" Erza yelled, growing ever more fearful. Soon, however, it was too late, my magic got out of my control, sending potent bolt after potent bolt out haphazardly, striking the hatchlings sure, but they could also hit Erza, which wouldn't be good.

I tried to contain it, but the spell wouldn't listen to me. "I…I-I c-can't…" I struggled out, too focused on stopping the destruction the spell would inevitably cause.

"Wait!" Erza yelled. "Inigo, just…gah!" she gave up, charging toward me with her sword raised. I honestly wouldn't have blamed her if she struck me down right then, but she didn't. She instead chopped the back of my head with the hilt of her sword, hard. My vision was getting blurry and only slightly feeling the sensation that resulted in Erza kicking me straight through the hatchling line and into a building, hard enough to shield me with rubble so that they wouldn't see me.

As I drifted into unconsciousness, I could only wonder what would happen to her while I was dozing off.

 **Author's Note:**

 **So perhaps the Alter Fairy can't replicate everything right away. So for anyone saying he's OP...well, you're probably right, but hey, I have to give him some limits.**

 **So, I'm supposed to be at band when I'm posting this, but I happened to get a reaction from the shot I just got about an hour ago, so I can't go just yet, so I thought, hey, why not post this?**

 **Anyway, I hope you liked it and are looking forward to the rest of the Dragon Invasion!**


	32. 32 Forgot They Could Fly

I woke slowly. I'd expected to wake up to explosions, action, death, blood everywhere, but no. It was quiet in the immediate vicinity, with only distant sounds of roars interrupting the silence.

I looked around for a while, after getting the rubble off of me, as I stood. The signs of battle from before I dozed off were gone, and Erza had moved locations…though not very far. I heard her voice nearby and decided to follow it.

She had ceased fighting and was now talking with Millianna and Jellal, a grenade which I refrained from pulling the pin from if you will. The grenade I opted for was arguably more dangerous though, as a certain purple-haired swordswoman was eavesdropping, something which I happened to notice, though I was surprised that she could hear them given that they probably wouldn't hear her speak.

"Hey," I said to her. She looked startled by my voice and visibly jumped before glaring at me. I unhooked the Archenemy and then tossed it to her. "Here."

"W-what?" she questioned. "I-I thought you-"

"I've got no use for it; I can make swords to use anytime I want," I said simply, leaning on the pillar next to hers.

"But…" she trailed off, struggling to find the words. She shook her head. "Why do you insist on being so kind to me?" she questioned. "When I continually show you nothing but hatred and resentment?"

I looked up at the sky, my hair falling over my eyes. "That's a very good question, Little Kagura, and I suppose that it needs to be answered once and for all, right?"

"That's why I'm asking."

"Well, I'll tell you why I'm never gonna show you the foulness you've shown me."

"Well then say it already, so I can have this guilt out of my conscience."

"The reason I've been trying my very best to be reasonable is because…you're my family."

It took her a minute to comprehend. "…What?"

"I told you that you're my family, even if you're not always in my life like Fairy Tail is now."

"I…family? That's it? That's the only reason?"

"The only one I need," I answered, waving off her disbelief. I then looked down somberly. "I only wish you could've grown up to be the same…which reminds me," I pointed to the sword. "I was right about a demon residing in the Archenemy. I've already purged it, so it should be good to go now."

She examined it. "Has it lost its power?"

I shook my head. "Of course you'd be concerned about that…no, it hasn't lost any of its power, which means you still have to use it sparingly around innocents. After all, it's a sin to murder them, isn't it?" I questioned, mocking her own words, which got me a glare.

"But…why'd you give me this? I could go out there right now and murder Jellal after all of these years with this, and yet you'd just…give it to me?"

"If you really and truly, in your heart, believe that that's the right thing to do, then I suppose that I'll let you make that decision. There's a certain point when I can't be an older brother anymore," I stated.

"But…"

I sighed. "Look, the point is that I've forgiven him. Have I forgotten the things he's done? No. Will I ever let him forget them? No. You haven't forgiven him, and you may never forgive him. If that's the way it has to be then…fine, do what you want. It wouldn't really surprise me if you went out there and cut him down in cold blood, after what I've seen of your temper in the Games," I eyed her. "Or you could prove me wrong," I said with a shrug, walking away. "But what do I know? I'm the _enemy_ , remember?" I asked rhetorically, leaving her with some words to think about.

I activated my telepathy.

"Hey, Mira, where are you? Can you hear me?" I asked.

" _I, whoa! Yeah, I can…wah!"_

A crash was heard near the palace. "You wouldn't happen to be at the palace, would you?"

" _The gardens to be specific,_ " she clarified. I nodded, hopping onto a thundercloud.

"Alright, I'm on my way," I said as I took off toward the structure, soon finding… "Man! You are one ugly looking fella aren't you?" I questioned as I lowered myself to meet his face. "I mean good lord! Look at that mug! That's a face only a mother could love, am I right?"

"Careful, or he'll steal your clothes!" Yukino called from below me. "He already did that to Lucy!"

With that beautiful (and yet not because I'm taken) thought in my mind, I listened to the dragon's words. "You, a petty human, think you can take on me? Zirconis?"

"I think…that you could use a makeover. Is that something?" I asked, scratching the back of my head.

"Um, Inigo, maybe the insults could take a rest," Wendy warned, though Mira caught onto what I was doing, making Zirconis focus on me so that she could attack him from behind.

I grinned. "Catch me if you can, and tell you what, if you do, I'll take off my clothes for free!" I yelled as he swiped at me, which I dodged handily. I did so several more times, with Wendy charging up an attack.

"Damn it! Screw your lame muscle that tastes like cardboard! I'll just blast you out of the sky _and_ steal your clothes!" he yelled, opening his mouth toward me as I rose higher.

I pounded my chest. "Go ahead; hit a bullseye!" I yelled. "Here, I'll make it a little easier for you!" I called down, making a bright light right where my chest was.

Key word being "was" because as soon as the beam was let off, I moved out of the way, looking up at the fired beam as it soared into the horizon, making a gesture as if I were looking off after it.

"Wow…nice shot there champ! But, uh…what were you aiming at?" I asked as I looked back, only to be face-to-face with the oh-lord-how-did-I-forget-they-could-fly-dragon as he swatted me straight out of the sky, smashing into the ground in a crater. "Ah, oh…ow…damn…forgot they could fly…" I moaned as I picked myself off the ground. "Alright, Wendy how much longer until its ready?"

"About three minutes," she answered as the dragon laughed.

"That's so long though…fine, new plan then! Mirajane, back me up!" I called to her as I activated the Demon's Echo, launching myself into the air and striking the dragon, knocking him back a few feet at least, but not doing any damage. Mira then dashed toward him and did the same, with us keeping up constant push-back attacks.

However soon Zirconis recovered and took his front…paws? Hands? Fists? Let's go with paws. Zirconis took his front paws and gripped us in them, pounding them together, smashing us against each other.

"You know, I want to be close to you, Inigo, but this isn't what I had in mind!" Mira screamed as Zirconis charged down toward the ground and crashed us into it.

We both were struggling to stand from the impact. My head was reeling, and by the time I could comprehend what was happening, Zirconis was right up in my face, or rather, the inside of his mouth was right up against my face, his teeth already closing in on both of us.

I didn't even try to move because I wouldn't have time. The feeling was strange, knowing that you were gonna die…but I'd felt it before on Tenrou Island, so it wasn't really that much of a shock, even when the pain of having my legs ripped from my body via razor sharp teeth overtook me.

"Nakama…" I muttered with my dying breath. It seemed that this was the end.

 **Author's Note:**

 **Man, that's a bit of a downer, isn't it? Yeah, changed my mind about this story; I lost interest so I figured I might as well end it on a sad note like I originally planned.**

 **If you enjoyed the story then go ahead and leave me a review and wish me luck on any future projects!**


	33. 33 Finally

I jolted up, as if being woken up forcefully as Mira and I were smashed together. "You know, I want to be close to you, Inigo, but this isn't what I had in mind!" Mira screamed as Zirconis charged down toward the ground and crashed us into it.

We both stood shakily, but suddenly I got this flash in my mind. From my left, Zirconis was charging, mouth wide open, to kill us. Instinctively, barely knowing which way he was coming from, I grabbed Mirajane's hand and shot myself up with my magic, pulling Mira along with me, both of us barely avoiding the jaws of death.

"What the hell?" I wondered what that vision was.

"I saw it too," Mira assured. "But…what was it?"

"I'm ready!" Wendy called and Mira and I slammed down onto Zirconis' head to keep him on the ground. "Ile Shattering Light: Heaven Drill!" she yelled, twisting her body and sending a wave of energy from herself which engulfed the entirety of Zirconis. I could feel its magic energy from way high up too, which I was where I fled as I had no idea the radius of the attack.

I lowered both me and Mirajane down as the attack settled down and the dust cloud formed. "Did you get him?" I asked, not hearing anything from the dust cloud.

"I think I…dazed him a little," Wendy offered as the smoke cleared, revealing Zirconis, looking damaged but not defeated.

"I think I've had enough fun with you. Who should I eat first? Hm…I think I'll get the muscle out of the way first, so I can finish with the delicacies of the women."

"I think he's talking about you, Inigo," Mirajane chuckled.

"Why are you laughing?!" I demanded before running away as Zirconis started chasing after me. "A little help here, Dragon Slayer!" I called, but only got them watching.

"No, this is good. Keep him busy while we try and destroy the gate!" Lucy called.

"No!" I yelled back, narrowly avoiding one of his claws.

Eventually, one of his claws caught my jacket, and he held me up to his face. "Thunder Devil's Rage!" I yelled, engulfing his face, but all that it did was make him laugh.

"That tickles," he said, chuckling. I grimaced.

"Uh, uh…" I tried to think of something to get free, but I couldn't reach my jacket, at least not the part that he was hanging me from. "Yeah, um…hey! How're you doing?" I wondered, a cautious smile on my face.

"I'm good, thank you very much, appetizer. And how are you?"

"I'm kind of hoping that you'll let me down so I can season myself for you."

"Nice try," he said, opening his mouth.

"Damn it!" I yelled, shooting a constant stream of white lightning into his mouth, but on a scale of one to ten of helpfulness that rated a jack point shit. The others were all busy trying to destroy the gate, so I couldn't expect any help from them, and something told me that I wouldn't get another chance like I think I did when Mira and I were about to be eaten.

Suddenly, as Zirconis was closing in, a strong kick was sent to his wrist, making his hand, and in turn me, move ever so slightly to the left, making him narrowly miss the bite.

I breathed a sigh of relief for only a moment before I was cut down and I landed face first on the ground.

I rolled out of the way of getting crushed and propelled both me and my savior away towards the gate. I then sighed for real before I realized who saved me. "Kagura?" I questioned. She turned away bashfully.

"It's a sin to leave family behind," she said quietly, making me smile. I grinned and picked her up into a hug.

"Yes! Finally!" I cried happily.

"Ah! Get the hell off of me you weirdo!" she demanded, punching me in the face several times in her attempts to get free, which I eventually allowed.

We both turned toward Zirconis. "Alright, first thing's first; let's hurry up and deal with this thing while they work on-" I was distracted by a bright red light forming in the sky. I looked at it for only a moment before I recognized the glow. "Natsu?" I questioned. When I looked a bit closer, I saw that he was approaching us…but he was off a little bit. I ran toward the gate. "I have an idea."

"What is it?"

"Do you guys see Natsu? I'm gonna lead him here to destroy the gate."

"What?" they all looked and soon assessed the situation themselves. "But if you do that, then he'll hit you, won't he?"

"Probably," I admitted. "It's gonna be rough, so everyone needs to clear out or distract Zirconis," I said as I stood in front of the gate, charging up my magic power. Once everyone was clear, I released it all in a bright light. "Natsu!" I yelled, using my telepathy at the same time. "Aim for the light!"

" _That's you, ain't it_?" he questioned.

"You're damn right."

" _Heh, you're as crazy as me! I like it, but you'd better not die on me!"_ he yelled, exerting his magic to adjust his course, heading straight for me. I remained there, releasing the light in case he still needed seemed to go in slow motion as he approached, the whole thing having been him attacking someone who he was dragging along with him.

As soon as he was basically right on top of me, I dashed to the left, hoping to escape at least the initial impact. The good news; most of me did miss it. The bad news; my right arm did not, and plus the explosion that resulted from it knocked me far away from the gate, thankfully being quickly found by Kagura.

She helped me back toward the gate, which was handily destroyed by Natsu's attack, and the dragon Zirconis was fading into light. I hung my head. "What the hell is going on…?" I groaned.

Lucy came to meet us, taking me from Kagura's hands. "Everyone is going back to their own time."

"Own time?" I questioned.

"Um…it's kinda hard to explain, but basically all the dragons are from the past."

"…Got it. I'll take your word," I said back as Zirconis had a little conversation with the Princess.

With that, we all had little to worry about. The threat was gone, the Games were over, and everything was calm and happy…or at least it would've been, had the King himself not personally invited all of the participating guild mages to his palace for a Grand Ball.

Once everyone had gotten properly patched, I got my arm into a proper cast and not just a stylized sling, and properly dressed, we all entered the ball.

 **Author's Note:**

 **Yeah, I don't know who I was trying to fool with that little stunt back there.**

 **Anyway, yeah, this story will continue as planned until the end; promise.**

 **Anyway, the dragon threat is gone; so why don't you tell me what you thought about it, along with the rest of the Grand Magic Games arc. I'm really curious, and I won't bite, I promise...unless you aren't constructive with your criticism.**

 **Anyway, I hope you're gonna be looking forward to the Grand Ball!**


	34. 34 Grand Ball

I was definitely out of my element in this Ball. Sure, no one was dancing, which relieved me, but everything was just too…elegant. All of the dresses were too elegant, all of the food was too elegant, hell, even what I was wearing was way too elegant for me. I would've much preferred a simply dress shirt and pants. Wasn't that enough? No.

Anyway, enough complaining. The ball itself started out small; I was one of the first people inside, and slowly but surely more mages entered. It was mostly guys at first, like Lyon, Jura, Bacchus, Hibiki, the other Trimens, etc.

Eventually though, more girls started coming in, and I waited for two particular ones, Kagura and Mirajane. The former came out first.

I quickly grabbed two glasses and a bottle of booze. "Oi, Kagura!" I called, approaching her. "Wanna drink?"

She held her hand up. "I don't drink, Inigo," she stated.

"Well you could at least pour me a glass. I only have one arm to work with here," I said with a smile, though as she complied, it faded. "Um, listen…I know a lot has happened, but…I was wondering…"

"Let me stop you right there, Inigo," she said, putting her hand up. "Let's just…put everything that happened in the Games behind us."

"So…friends?"

"Absolutely not," she said as she put a finger to her chin. "What was it you called her again…?" she smiled. "Nakama."

"But I…" I chuckled. "Alright, nakama then…but you're still my little sis, got it?"

She waved it off, pouring a second glass without thinking and putting down the bottle. I chuckled again. "What?"

"I thought you said you don't drink?"

She looked at the glass in her hand and frowned, soon shrugging. "Eh, there's a first time for everything. Cheers."

"Cheers!" we clinked glasses and I gulped down my fill, while she sipped lightly on hers.

"Kagura!" Erza's voice entered as she approached. "How are you wounds?"

"I could ask the same of you," the raven stated.

"Listen, I know a lot has happened, but-"

"I already used that line," I told her.

She made a pouting face. "Fine then. Kagura, do you want to be friends after how badly I whupped you?"

"Excuse me?" the woman questioned. "I think you have it the other way around."

"In any case, the matter at hand," I brought them both around to the question again.

"Oh, well, I ask again, would you like be friends?" Erza asked politely.

"Absolutely not," she stated, mimicking herself from two seconds ago. She then turned away bashfully. "How about…we become sisters instead?" she offered, a blush on her face.

Erza looked dumbfounded at the question, but then smiled contently. "Who know you had a softer side?" she pulled Kagura into her bosom. "I accept!"

"Ah! I was clearly kidding you pervert!" Kagura cried. Erza's attention as then drawn towards Millianna who was pouting in the corner, dragging Kagura along with her.

"Oi, Natsu!" Sting called, carrying two glasses of his own. "Where are you?"

"I haven't seen him," I said as I approached. "I don't even think he's here yet."

"Damn, I was hoping to toast to a new friendship, but I guess not."

"Hey, he's not the only Fairy here!" I said cheerily, clinking glasses with him. "To friendship!"

"A new bond between Fairies and Tigers!" Sting agreed, both of us laughing.

With a wide grin on both of our faces, we gulped our glasses down, pouring another, laughing all the way. "I didn't think you'd get so drunk so fast, Inigo," Mirajane's voice entered my ears, and when I looked, I saw her along with Lucy and Yukino.

"Hey!" I greeted. "Took you long enough!" as soon as Mirajane was within arm's reach, I pulled her close. "Your beauty really is shocking tonight," I said, giving way to my drunken self.

"You're so weird when you're hammered," Lucy stated.

"Shaddup, blondie!"

"Blondie?!" she demanded.

Yukino then noticed my drinking partner. "I…I-I'm sorry, I-" she tried to walk away.

"Yukino!" Sting called after her, making her stop. He approached her. "Um…Master and Minerva have vanished, so…we're hoping to build the guild back up, as one who…actually respects its members," he explained. "I know that we were…far from kind, but…I'd be honored if you'd join our guild again," he offered. "If you don't already have plans."

"Well it's too bad she does!" Kagura interrupted, her voice and words slurred from drunkenness. She was backed up by her guildmates. "I'll have you know that Yukino belongs to me now."

Sting stormed up to her. "You're drunk! What do you know?" he questioned. I approached the two.

"Shut up!" Kagura retorted. "Yukino will be a Mermaid yet, just you wait and see!"

"Kagura, how many glasses have you had?" I implored.

"Just one," she said stubbornly, causing me to laugh.

"Really can't hold in your booze, can you?" I said. "Yukino _did_ bet her life, Sting," I turned to the woman in question. "And you! This is why making bets isn't a good idea!"

"I-I…"

"Don't yell at her!" Sting demanded.

"And what are you gonna do to stop me, Whitey?"

"Is that a declaration of war, Cloud Nine?"

"You're damn right it is."

"Then to war between the Tigers and Fairies!"

"That alliance lasted long…" Lucy commented.

"A battle of the white powers?" Mirajane questioned.

"More like the white destroyers!" Lucy corrected.

"Hold it!" Erza called. "If this is a fight for Yukino, then we'll not just stand idly by! With all that's been happening, it's natural for her to join us!"

"Man!" Elfman added that bit of sophistication.

"If this is how it's going to be, then Lamia Scale will join in too!" Lyon announced.

"What's the point?" Jura questioned.

"Hold it!" one of the Trimens ordered, Eve I think. "We'll fight for her too."

"Because if Yukino joins Blue Pegasus," Hibiki added.

"She'll shine like the stars," Ren added.

"So come join us, Yukino," Jenny finished.

"Men!" correction, Ichiya finished.

With that, the brawl commenced, with all of the participating guilds fighting it out for Yukino. I was knocked back into Mirajane who was comforting the girl. I looked back up at Sting, who was flexing triumphantly. "If I had use of my right arm, I'd kick your ass from here back to your guild hall!" I claimed as I stood, ready to get back into the fray, but Mirajane stopped me.

"And it's because of your right arm's lack of use that you won't be participating in this brawl," she ordered.

"But-"

"No buts!" she snapped, and she quickly activated her Satan Soul and bashed my head into the ground.

Sting approached. "Aw come on, if he wants to get whupped, then I'd be happy to-" she did the same to him.

I was then kicked up into the air by Kagura. "You're pathetic, Igi!" she exclaimed.

Dazed, I didn't even try to catch myself as I was about to land on top of Erza. She growled as she punched me away. "You give Fairy Tail a bad rep!" she claimed. "Man up!" she yelled after me.

I was flying straight toward Jura, and he put up a rock wall to stop me from crashing into him. "Oh, uh…sorry. It was instinctual."

I gave a weak thumbs-up. "It's okay, you stopped the pain…" I moaned.

Suddenly, an ice pillar shot me back up. "Oops, did I do that?" Lyon asked evilly.

Gray smirked below me. "Please! Let me show you real ice magic! Ice Make: Hammer!" he yelled as he swung the gigantic weapon right into my face.

"When did it turn into the 'Beat Up Inigo Ball'?!" I cried as I flew up into the ceiling, only to be caught by Arcadios. "Thank you…"

He scoffed before flipping me over and using my head as the judges' hammer, quieting everyone down before dropping me. "Everyone, your King will now make a public 'thank you' for all that you've done!"

Everyone eagerly awaited for the King's arrival, and as he walked out into the shadows, everyone was dumbfounded. "Natsu?!" everyone yelled at once.

"I am your King! Bow before me, subjects!" he called down to us, with the real King worrying in the background.

"Please, give that back!" he cried.

"Aw come on, we won, right? Just let me be the King for a while!"

I clenched my teeth. "Piss off, Natsu!" I called up to him, making my free hand into the form of a gun and shooting a bolt of lightning at his forehead, knocking him out as effectively as…well just about every other S-class mage of Fairy Tail.

The crown flew off of his head and high into the air. Multiple people made their way for it, but I beat them all to it, resting on a stormcloud with it on my lap. "Please, give that back!" the King called up to me.

"In a minute!" I called back down as everyone returned to their business. Finding the design boring, I tossed it down to him. I then lowered myself and landed, already noticing another disturbance.

It was the Princess being reprimanded by her father. "Your actions have put the entire kingdom at risk," he reminded her.

"Yes, father, I understand, and am willing to accept any punishment.

"Hold it!" Fairy Tail members took the stage, mostly people on the Rescue Team. "It wasn't the Princess' fault!"

"That's right! She only did what she thought would be the best for everyone!"

"However, it wasn't the best for anyone," the King reminded them.

"From what I understand, she was given incorrect information about the Eclipse Gate," Erza argued. "And it also seems that you had no idea what the Eclipse plan was either, so you can't blame her for not knowing its potential."

"That may be the case, but-"

"Not to mention, everything worked out fine, no one died in the fighting," people from Blue Pegasus and Mermaid Heel were joining in now, and even the Lamia Scale members too, namely one of them.

The King turned to that certain one. "You too, Wizard Saint Jura?" he questioned.

He turned away bashfully. "It…did bring us wizards together in a way I've never seen, so _some_ good came out of it I suppose…" he admitted.

"Are you all bloody morons?!" I demanded, stepping in-between the King and the wizards. "I'm all for the unity of the guilds, but this little incident put thousands of lives at risk," I reminded everyone. "And that's something you can't deny, unlike the casualties. Even still, people could have very easily died in this battle. We've seen it. You all can't tell me that only the She-Devil and I were the only ones who got something like a vision or Deja-vu type thing happen, right? In the visions, something goes wrong, and the reason we're still around to tell about ti today is because we took steps to avoid it, right?"

Murmurs of agreements slowly formed, though not many.

"And not to mention the damage to the city. Even if no one died, the city sure took its toll, didn't it? How many reformation wizards will we have to hire to fix this, or is everyone going to do it by hand? Huh?" I turned to the King. "With all of that being said, the Princess didn't have the necessary information to make this decision with a sound mind. She took a gamble and it didn't pan out."

"But still, a punishment must be exercised."

"I agree," I said. "And with a little coercing, I'm sure I could convince everyone else here of the same, but for the sake of everyone's time and enjoyment of the ball," I pointed at my chest with my thumb. "I'll take the punishment as a representative of the Princess, representing all of the lives she put at risk with her decision, including that of the wizards who fought."

"W-what?" the Princess stormed in front of me. "You can't just walk in here and take this punishment on my behalf!"

"Who's going to stop me?" I questioned, with no one speaking up at that. I pushed her aside. "So come on, King Fiore, give me any punishment you're willing to give."

"B-but…he could sentence you to life in prison, or death, or worse!" the Princess argued.

I laughed once. "Ha! Yeah right; he's not gonna do that."

"How-"

"Because the punishment he's going to give was meant for you, his daughter. Do your really think he'd sentence his own daughter, the heir to the kingdom, to death?" I questioned.

And so a tense standoff began, with me simply waiting for the King to respond as he was looking down with his eyes closed, considering both the situation and what my punishment would be. I waited for so long that my focus started to wear down.

Soon, something was placed over my head in my dazed state from having been waiting so long. It felt like a hat or helmet. "What?"

"You must wear that accessory until you head back to Magnolia, deal?" the King inquired, a sly look in his eye.

"What is it?" I asked, confused.

"It's the Mato pumpkin mask," someone answered.

With me standing there confused, everyone laughed. Sighing, I resigned myself to my fate, and just let everyone disperse, with the Princess thanking me before taking her leave to enjoy the rest of the Ball.

Mirajane walked up to me. "I feel like a jackass," I complained.

"You accepted the punishment," she replied.

"Yeah, this is what I get for helping people. Ha! Helping people…what a stupid concept? You hardly get anything other than a 'thank you' most of the time anyway! The most you could hope for is a good night with the person, and that's only if it's the opposite gender and-"

"Are you done?" she questioned, getting a bored look on her face.

"I…yeah," We just stood standing side-by-side awkwardly for a minute before I turned to her. "Hey, even though I look absolutely ridiculous…Mirajane, would you care for a dance?" I asked.

She smiled genuine and pecked my cheek through the mask. "I would love to, Mato," she teased.

We started walking toward the dance floor. " _Please_ try and refrain from making that a nick-" I didn't finish as I suddenly got this tug in my gut that I hadn't felt in a long time. I let go of her hand. "I, uh…"

"What? What's wrong?"

"Look, I'm really sorry about this, but I've got to bail for a minute. Something came up."

"What is it?" she repeated.

"I can't…look, I've got to go," I said before sprinting outside. Once I was in open air, I leap tonto a thundercloud and raced toward the outskirts of the city, where a forest was sprawled out.

Once I made it to the forest I landed and ran into them, trying to pinpoint the source of the feeling; the feeling of a demon. Soon, I found him, with the First Master hovering about ten feet above him. "You again," I said, catching his attention. He barely looked my way. "Who the hell are you and why do you stink like death?"

"He is Zeref," Mavis answered before he did. "And I've just declared that Fairy Tail will annihilate him."

I cracked my neck. "Oh, I'll do it right now."

It was only now that Zeref spoke. "…What are you wearing?" he questioned.

I must've looked confused before realizing that I was still wearing the Mato mask, which I promptly took off. It was then that he recognized me.

"Oh…you were on Tenrou?" he questioned.

"That's right. We didn't get a chance to fight for real then, but this time, I'm ready and-"

"Crippled," he interrupted, a wicked look getting in his eye. "I'm going to warn you once, Devil Slayer. Do _not_ interrupt mine and Natsu's battle."

"And who'll stop me? The First Master said Fairy Tail will destroy you, not just Natsu."

"I've…already made sure several times that you won't interfere with my plans," he said back.

"And what's to keep me from killing you right now?"

"You're welcome to try, but you'll die," he replied, his voice ever calculating, unnerving me, especially when I wasn't exactly at a hundred percent myself. "As I suspected; the humans of this era are as worthless as the rest. Unsure, unwilling, and yet unwavering in their stubborn façade."

"What are you talking about?"

"Even the people of another world are hopeless it seems, as they've made the same repeat mistakes again and again as well. It really is a shame."

"Another world…Edolas? How and why did you go there? The last remnants of Anima were used to bring us back."

"Magic can be replicated, as I'm sure you know."

I clenched my teeth. "I swear, if you hurt the Fairy Tail over there or Mystogan or anyone else I'm going to-"

"Clam yourself, no harm came to the world by my hand," he assured. "However, it still doesn't change the fact that you're going to die."

I'd heard that line before, hadn't I? For the life of me, I couldn't remember from where, but I'd heard the line before and I don't remember it affecting me, but for some reason, when this Zeref said it, it sent shivers down my spine and goosebumps up my arm.

Zeref turned around and started walking away. "Go on, Devil Slayer. Live about your little Fairy-façade a bit longer. But just know that it'll be your own demon that will be your demise."

 **Author's Note:**

 **Sorry guys, don't have tiem to proof read today, so forgive any mistakes; it'll be fixed by tomorrow.**

 **Anyway, what'd you guys think? I moved the scene where Mavis talks with Zeref to here simply because it was really random and out of place that Zeref was, coincidentally, right outside of Magnolia as Fairy Tail was returning, so I thought it would make more sense to have him be right outside of Crocus, watching the Grand Magic Games and maybe judging Natsu's power to see if he was ready after seven years. I don't know though.**

 **In any case, let me know wha tyou guys think of how I handled it and uh...yeah, Zeref is a badass...I guess.**

 **Actually, I do have a question that I _need_ answered before the original chapters are over. I've been slacking on catching up to Fairy Tail...mostly because I've been watching Baccano, but in any case, would you rather I have less frequent updates and to watch the show full through, or should I simply read the plot synopsis for each arc I use to get the chapters out faster?**

 **From what I've seen, only a couple episodes really have anything to do with what I would want to use, so I don't know; leave your response along with an opinion in the form of a review. Please and thank you.**


	35. 35 All That I'm Worth

Still shaken from my little meeting with Zeref, I decided to stay away from the rest of the Ball. My reasoning? Well, first off, I wouldn't have been very social anyway, so there's that. Plus, they would ask why I wasn't feeling too hot, and my answer would have been a bold-faced lie. Yeah, like I was going to tell anyone that Zeref was this close; they would either freak out or try and kill him, and neither would have been good for half-dead wizards that just got over a dragon attack.

I sighed, opting instead to rest at the edge of the trees. Mavis sat next to me. "Not going back?"

"I'm surprised you left the food yourself," I stated, getting a swat to the back of the head. "I kinda deserved that."

"Yes, you did. You didn't have to come, you know."

"I know," I admitted. "But I couldn't risk something worse happening."

"I see. That's very brave of you, if not a bit stupid."

"I'm a Devil Slayer; it's my duty to chase after things that give off that kind of dark magic. Zeref's magic power is so similar to Mard…n-never mind. That's a memory not worth resurfacing," I told myself.

"I see," was all she responded with. "So I'm curious; is Devil Slaying magic like other Slayer magics?" Mavis asked.

"From what I can tell, not exactly."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, for one, Devil Slayer magic is extremely…fickle. It takes a lot of discipline to not succumb to its side effects. If you'd ever noticed, I get markings sprawling across my body whenever I use my magic."

"What happens when they go across your entire body?"

"You got me on that. I've never had the guts to find out and something tells me that I don't want to either."

"I'd assume you just run out of magic power, correct? Once you run out, that's when the markings end?"

"Generally, but even still…" I trailed off.

"Well, I won't push you. As much as I am curious, if you refuse, I won't force you."

"Thank you, First Master. You know, you're not too bad once you get past the childish exterior."

"Childish?!" she demanded. "What's that supposed to mean?" I chuckled.

"Or maybe not," I said as I stood and started walking away. "Anyway, I'm gonna go walk around the city, so-"

"Oh no you won't! You're gonna tell me what you mean and what exactly makes me seem childish!" she ordered as she tugged on my good arm to hold me back, but given that she was a ghost, she didn't really hold me back for long. "Hey! Wait up, Alter Fairy!"

I waved her off. "Yeah, yeah…"

The next morning, I had found a nice place to lie down and get some shut eye, I met up with Mirajane, who was waiting at the train station. She tossed me my bag. "Here you are; I took the liberty of packing everything up for you," she said.

I nodded. "Thanks, Mira. Hey, about last night. I'm really sorry, but I just got this really bad feeling, and I needed to find out why. I hope I didn't hurt your feelings," I said, wrapping my arm around her waist and pecking her.

"Ditching me and leaving me to dance with my imaginary friend? Oh no, I'm fine," she answered sarcastically. "You could've at least told me why."

"I know. I'm sorry," I repeated, pecking her again. "So where're the others?" I asked.

"They left already," she answered. "I was waiting for you."

"Oh, sorry again then."

She chuckled. "I wonder how many times you'll say that today?"

I smirked. "Keep pushing your luck and I might not at all and just fly back to Magnolia by myself."

"Oh, you wouldn't do that," she replied as she ran a finger down my chest.

I pulled her closer for a long kiss. It was apparently unentertaining too, as we were interrupted by a certain raven clearing her throat. We separated.

"I was wondering how long you were going to make me watch that," Kagura commented.

"Sorry, didn't see you pass by."

"Alright, well, let's go," she said as she slung a bag over her shoulder.

"Let's?" I questioned.

Kagura nodded. "Of course, I'm coming with you. You had Mira ask me to stay with you for a month or so to catch up, remember?"

"I did?" I asked, though Mira elbowed me lightly. "Ow…"

"And she even was kind enough to donate her earnings from the Games for finance building your house!" Mira added.

"She what?" I question, not believing what I was hearing. "You can't be serious."

"I am. I'm making sure I owe you absolutely nothing after this," Kagura stated as she walked past us into the station to get tickets for us.

I turned to Mira. "What kind of spell did you put on her?" I questioned.

She put a finger to her chin. "Um…your name and the word 'debt'?" she offered.

I sighed before kissing her once again. "I love you so much."

"I know you do. Otherwise you wouldn't have kept that suit on long enough for me to see you in it again and admire it a bit more," she teased.

I must've turned pink, because Mirajane chuckled before transforming my clothes to what I normally wore. With that, we entered the train back to Magnolia.

-And then-

Two weeks later, and my house was finally built on the outskirts of the town. Sure, it wasn't anything special, but I never wanted it to feel like anything other than home. Just two bedrooms, a restroom, and a kitchen with dining area. It was barely bigger than an apartment honestly, but whatever, it was more than the couch I got to my name in the Strauss' house.

Anyway, everything was peaceful that morning. I woke slowly and quietly. Everything was serene and perfect in my own little slice of life, my own little haven that I could have all to my-

"Hey! How long do you plan on staying asleep?" Kagura demanded.

My eyes cracked open, tiredness fueling everything I did. I simply grumbled and pulled the sheets over my head. Suddenly, they were pulled off forcefully, nearly taking the bed with them. "I demand the same, Inigo Asher," Erza said harshly.

"Why're you…" I muttered

"Kagura invited me," she said as she shrugged. "Plus, Fairy Hills was getting boring."

Mirajane sat on the edge of my bed. "Not feeling well again today?" she asked. Yeah, I had come down with something. It wasn't bad, just an upset stomach and a headache all day, and no I hadn't been drinking at night to get this condition. I would later find out that it would only get worse from here, but definitely not anytime soon. Anyway, I nodded at her question. She patted my bad arm, sending a visible shiver up my spine. "Well, you still have to get up," she said with a smile, which only deepened my scowl at the situation.

I sighed, thinking that I probably should get up and get moving to counteract how miserable I was feeling in comparison to how great I felt after winning the Grand Magic Games. Then again, who were they to tell me what to do?

With this thinking, I pulled the covers once again over my head. I felt something collide with the side of my bed. "If you don't get up, I'll be forced to punish you."

I showed my face just long enough to say "Bite me" before closing my eyes once again. Only then did I realize that punishment meant that she would jump up and down on my bed like a child , not exactly helping my stomach. I very quickly got tired of it and opted to just kick her down, with her falling off the bed. Sure, the act revealed my face again, but hey, I could sleep again, right? Nope.

Kagura poked her head in. "I promised to spend time with you and help you, not be your housewife. You have a Strauss for that, so get up," she ordered sternly. I'd heard the tone once before, but not for a long time. I smiled. "What?"

"How long has it been since you told me to get up?"

She looked unamused. "Breakfast will be ready in two minutes. You either get up and eat, or we eat it all."

"But can't I-"

"Absolutely not," she answered, not even bothering to hear me out.

I raised my good arm to rest over my eyes as I moaned. "When did my life become a harem…?" I whined as I sat up. I scratched the back of my head and yawned before standing and stretching, going out to greet my guests.

Most of these two weeks I'd spent on the house, getting furniture and stuff, but other than that, nothing really happened. I hadn't actually went to the renovated guild hall yet for those reasons, plus the fact that Kagura technically shouldn't be in the guild hall under normal circumstances. Since she took time out of her life to visit me, I thought the least I could do was spend time with her.

And I have, I found out that when she left, she'd found someone else and learned everything that I had told her in the bar about Simon and Jellal from that Millianna girl, who had been in the same band as Simon and wanted revenge for his death as much as she did…and the fact that she never told me that and made me explain myself fully without ever mentioning it only to tell me that it didn't matter. Thanks, little sis.

Anyway, other than that, not much had happened in her life away from me, though that would soon change. Right that day in fact.

So, we were eating breakfast, Mirajane and Erza had already left for the guild to handle her duties there, and so it was just me and the raven. "So, any place you want to see in town still?" I asked.

She thought about it. "Well, I've already been to the church…not really, that I can think of."

Just then, the door was knocked on. I moaned. "Oh god…what now?" I complained as Kagura got the door to find Lyon and Gray duking it out on my front porch, fighting over, apparently, who would share their information first.

Kagura ended this quickly with a blow to each of their heads before carrying them by their shirt collars inside. "Now, speak!" she ordered to Lyon.

He fished in his cloak pocket and came up with a job request. "You might find this interesting," said vaguely as I read it.

"A job request?" I questioned. "It just says to bring Inigo Asher," I read aloud.

"It's a bounty hunter-type quest, Inigo. Someone wants your hide and bad. Look at the reward."

"800,000 Jewels? That's it?" I complained. "That's all I'm worth?"

"Read who it's from too," he suggested, to which I complied.

"From…the Amber Coffin Guild? Can guilds even request form other guilds?"

"I was curious too, and I wanted to ask if you had any bad blood with that guild?"

"I've never even heard of them," I admitted.

"Well, it looks like you've got no choice, Inigo," Gray piped up. "On a recent mission, they captured Cana and are holding her hostage to get you to comply."

 **Author's Note: Hey guys! It's been a while; I know, but I promise I haven't been...okay I've totally been neglecting this fic for a while, focusing more on my original works and also the sequel, which I'm writing parallel to this one to an extent.**

 **Anyway, I've hit writer's block for the Eclipse Celestial Spirit arc, but finally, at the time of uploading this chapter, I've started on it and it should be finished...in the next few weeks, which brings me to a big announcement.**

 **I hate to say it, but real life calls; I'm in marching band, and if you know high school marching bands in PA, they're a big deal, and part of it entails a two week long camp that completely eats up my time to write, not to mention I need to read my summer reading book about the American Dream, and I also have to start school again basically the week after the week after band camp (no that's not a type) and also...ugh...life is hard.**

 **Anyway, the point I'm getting at is that I have about eight chapters, including this one, of two original arcs that I'm going to be spacing out over the next two or three weeks, so if this doesn't update everyday, that's why.**

 **I promise that I won't give up until this story is finished, but with real life getting in the way of my commitment to my writing, not to mention my other big project that's been on hiatus fro a bit too long, it's actually a Legend of Korra story if you want to check it out, which I need to get off my ass and finish up the last arc for that one too, preferably before I finish this one, but honestly I don't see that happening.**

 **Wow, that was very long-winded and I apologize, but I just wanted to keep you guys updated, and I really do what you guys to be as involved as possible, as reading new reviews and ways that I could improve really does bring a smile to my face because that just shows that you're enjoying the story and want to make it even better.**

 **Again, thank you guys for understanding and I'll catch you in the next chapter!**


	36. 36 Amber Coffin

"But…why?" I wondered aloud as I stood. "What do we know about this Amber Coffin?"

"They're a dark guild. Not really anything special in terms of big heists. It almost seems as if all they do is take hostages and fight people that interest them, and more often when they refuse, they destroy the entire guild."

I grimaced. "Where are they?"

"They're stationed in the port farther to the east than Hargeon."

I stretched once again. "Alright, well, what do you say we give them a welcoming committee? Lyon, Kagura, are you in?"

"Sorry, but I've got to get back to the guild and report this job request," Lyon said before taking his leave, leaving the job request with me, after saying a quick "Good luck."

"Alright then, Kagura?"

"I don't see why not."

"And Gray?"

"Sure, I'm game."

We all exited the house and headed for town. "Alright, let's head to the guild hall and see if anyone else knows about this."

With that, we entered the building, with Kagura getting a couple weird looks to say the least, but we ignored them and went to Makarov.

I waved. "Hey there!" I greeted.

"Inigo! It's been a while. Been busy with the house, have you?"

"Finished it a couple days ago actually, but I came down with something. Nothing major, but I didn't want to give it to anyone else."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Also, why'd you bring the Mermaid?"

"Actually, that's why I'm here," I showed him the request. "From the Dark Guild, Amber Coffin. I'd heard they took Cana as well."

Makarov nodded. "A team has already been dispatched. You three should head there to help them."

We all nodded and headed out.

Once we finally made it to the dispatch team, they were busy trying to find a way inside the building. The dispatch team was manned by Natsu, Mirajane, Erza, Happy, and Juvia.

We observed for a minute from the skies, seeing that the team was having quite a bit of trouble getting through the Amber Coffin's initial defenses, with a seemingly impenetrable wall blocking their way, guarded by five or six skilled mages, as well as another dozen…what looked like Requip Mages? I don't know, they were wielding bows which shot magic arrows, so I'm not sure, anyway, they were also placed at the only entrance point.

I let Kagura and Gray off. "Alright, tell the team to move out of the way."

"If you don't mind me asking, what are you planning?" Gray inquired.

I shrugged. "Well, you know, sometimes in life all you need to succeed is a gigantic electric battering ram," I said with a smirk before they both ran off. I began charging up my magical power, lining myself up with the entrance way.

I took the position a runner takes before a race, and then took off, my lightning following every step. The run soon broke into a fly as my magic barely kept me aloft. "Devil Slayer Secret Art: Unholy Piercing Charge! Thunderbird's Dive!" I yelled as I picked up speed, going faster than my brain could react until I crashed fist-first into the entrance, opening a 40-meter-wide hole for my comrades to charge through unhindered.

I made a blade to call my own and started cutting through the guild members, finding that they all put up quite a fight. I was soon knocked back to where my comrades were holed up, trying to fend off their own batch.

"You know, I'm starting to wonder if Cana is even worth all of this!" Gray called and he bashed someone with an ice hammer.

"Yeah, what do you say we call it quits here?" Happy asked.

"No way! Who else am I gonna have drinking contests with!" I yelled in rage before slicing through another couple of mages. Still, no matter how many we knocked back, more just took their place, and then, everything just stopped via whistle. "Jeez, if that's all it took, then why didn't we do that sooner?" I wondered before Mirajane turned my head to look at the person who actually whistled.

It was a woman who looked older than any of us, maybe twenty-three-ish. I don't want to seem unfair in judgement, but that's beside the point. "Hey there!" she called down to us from a raised balcony. "So which one of you is Inigo Asher?"

I stepped forward. "That'd be me. You put a bounty on my head, didn't you?"

"That I did," the woman admitted.

"Care to explain why?"

"I…well, you'll find out when you face me. I have a couple elites for you and your friends to get past before you get to me, so we'll save it for then, okay?"

"And what about our friend? Is she safe?"

With a snap of her fingers, Cana was dragged out, looking confused before she looked down to us. She then ran to the edge of the balcony and waved ecstatically to us. "Hey there, Glittermate!" she called down. "You should come join us; it's been a beer-barrel of fun up here!"

The woman grimaced as Cana was taken out of sight. "That girl gives me a headache. Anyway, I'll be in the back. I'll have the best of the best to fight you until then. Ta-ta!" she said as she took her leave, whistling once again, signaling everyone to attack again.

Soon though, five people appeared that stood out from the rest. One of them waved their arms, and a magic circle formed around the entire room before the scene shifted to that of a blank white one, with just our group and those five to fight.

"Illusion magic like Ivan Dreyar?" Juvia inquired.

"No," Erza said. "This is an entirely new arena. Plus, I feel a surge of magic energy coming from every one of us."

"To give everyone a fair chance, this field will give you near unlimited magic power, that is to say, we can drain you, but you can't drain yourself through magic use," one of them said. He pointed to himself. "Name's Abel Rodac by the way. We got a Dark Ecriture user named Alina, and Illusion Magic user named Opal, and a Light Ecriture user named-"

I shot him in the face. "Too many names…" I moaned as everyone charged at each other.

Their Ecriture people both went after Erza, Mirajane, and Kagura, and began battling them, while Abel and Opal went after me. Opal summoned what looked like the entire animal kingdom to attack me, which I of course ran away from, while Abel used his Afterimage Magic, which is really just Clone Magic, to make multiple copies of himself, to block my way at several points, as well as my way forward.

The others took to their opponents, and I was left with my two. Eventually Abel cornered me against the animal kingdom, and I wasted magic to try and fend them off, but they disappeared on me. Breathing a sigh of relief before turning back to Abel, who punched me in the face, I stood. "Damn it! I don't have time for you!" I yelled as I blasted several of his clones.

He stuck his tongue out at me, showing a rather playful nature, as he made even more copies and charged straight at me. However, instead of being attacked from the front, where I was expecting to be attacked and ready to block and counter from, I was knocked upside the head from the back, where Abel actually was.

"Damn illusions…"

Suddenly, as even more were about to attack, Natsu's fire interrupted. He jumped in front of me and pushed back the whole of the line of Abels. "You go on ahead; I heard you got business with the leading lady," he said with a smirk.

"Yeah whatever, Flame Breath. I guess I can give you this one since I totally owned you at the Grand Ball," I countered as I ran past him, jumping over Natsu's wave of fire which knocked Abel down, allowing me to run past him.

I dashed away from the battle as I followed where the leader ran off to, ready to settle whatever grudge she had with me.

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hey guys.**

 **I really just want to use this to apologize for the extremely long author's note last time, and I promise it won't happen again.**

 **Anyway, not really much to say, but the first original arc will end next time...yeah, it's short. The next one is longer though, so yeah...**


	37. 37 Hell's Judgment

I soon found her, sitting across from Cana at a small table with multiple cards strewn about it. Cana turned to me for a moment before waving. "Yo!" she greeted.

"Cana? Are you still drunk?" I questioned, walking over to her.

"Nah, that was a one-time deal. Now hang on…" she trailed off as she looked at the cards. The leader seemed to be paying attention to them as well. "Nope, he's not interested," she said finally.

"Damn it!" the leader slapped the table. "After all I did for that ungrateful bastard!"

"Sorry."

"Cana, you should probably leave."

"Excuse me?" the leader stood. "I haven't released her yet."

"Well, you wanted me here, and I obliged. I'd say she's free to go," I said casually as I urged her out. She left with a frustrated "alright already" which left us two alone. "So…you wanna tell me your name?"

"Amber Rodac."

"Like Amber Coffin?"

"That's why I named it that," she confirmed.

"And are you related to the other Rodac outside?" I pointed behind me to the entrance.

"We're siblings, I'll have you know."

"Oh, so, I mean…you two aren't-"

"Alright, I'm gonna stop your right there because that's an area that I don't find comfortable. Deal?"

"It's understandable. Anyway, if you'd kindly explain why you want my head…" I urged her to speak.

"Well, it started when you stole my title," she said.

"Title? The Alter Fairy? What about it?"

"No, as the Replication Mage. Gods, don't you pay attention?" she scolded.

"I've…never been called that."

"Well it's what you've been known as since the Grand Magic Games, when Fairy Tail won and you, along with everyone else in the guild, became world famous. Before then, I was known as the ultimate replication mage, as a Slayer myself, our magic is extremely versatile, something which I used to my advantage and-"

"You're a Slayer? What type?" I asked, eager if she was another Devil Slayer.

"God Slayer; a Shadow God Slayer," she crushed my dreams. I drooped my shoulders.

"Oh…"

"Anyway, that brings me to here; I want to battle you."

"Don't they all?" I mused to myself. "Alright, I'm ready when you are."

"Wait, we're not in the right arena."

"Arena?" I questioned, not seeing this woman's priorities being straight. "Who cares?"

"If we don't have an Archive Wizard around, how'll we know if what we're using is replicating anything."

"…What?"

"Perhaps I didn't explain well enough for your tiny brain. I propose a battle, and-"

"I got that part."

" _And_!" she snapped before pausing to see if I would interrupt again. "The battle entails only using existing spells used by those other than ourselves, that aren't native to our magic type."

"Oh…so it's like a memory test. Is that all? Is this just a pride thing?"

"Isn't everything?" she question, mimicking my tone from earlier as she led me to a square area. There, I saw a familiar face.

"Hibiki?" I questioned. "What are you doing here?"

He shrugged. "I'm here on a job, the lovely lady called for an Archive Wizard."

"And she didn't mention that she wants my guts on her wall?"

"She might've, but I was too lost in her gorgeous eyes…" he tried to woo her, but she pushed him away.

"He may be annoying, but he was the only one I could get a hold of. Alright, so, the rules, in this room, each of us have unlimited magic power. We'll take turns casting spells not native to our magic, and if the other can't replicate it or if they perform it incorrectly, then they lose."

"What happens when you lose?"

"So confident…the loser has to fulfill one request from the loser, and that request most certainly can be for more requests."

I smirked. "Alright, you wanna go first?"

"I'd love to. Here we go," I saw her perform a spell which I recognized instantly. She split into two, or rather, made an outline of herself with her magic and then separated from it.

"Afterimage Magic replicated," Hibiki stated.

"Tch," I lit up my finger and made repeated what she did, stepping out of it and high-fiving it. "Too easy."

"Fair enough, but I was going easy on you," she warned, with both of our new friends disappearing.

"Well, unlike you, I intend to win this. Devil Slayer's Ars Arcanum: Column to Hell!" I called as I charged up my magic, creating a wall of storms around both of us. Once a sufficient amount had been charged up, I spun my arms and torso in a half circle, my arms outstretched, causing the storms to converge on my position and charge forward at Amber, consuming her in the beam.

As the dust cleared, she had been thrown back into the wall, and was walking back to my position, clapping. "Very well done," she commended as she turned to Hibiki. "But was it a replication?"

"Shattering Light: Sky Drill replicated."

"Alright, then let's do this," she repeated the motion with her shadows, with the beam not seeming as powerful as mine was, but it was still executed with perfect accuracy, so the battle continued.

"Alright, what's next?"

"Well, since you seem so eager to use offensive spells, how about we take it up to an eleven?" she smirked as she rose into the air with her shadows, doing the same for Hibiki. "Follow me. This particular spell shouldn't be cast in any place we want still standing afterwards," she said.

Conveniently, there was an overhead window we flew out of and landed on the roof, on the edge. She rose into the air once again to cast her technique. She swiped in the direction of several strokes of a magic circle before a large circular wall of shadows appeared in the front of her, aimed at the sky. She held her arm in front of it for only a second before flinging it up, forcing the circle to collapse in on itself and then shoot forward as a beam large enough to encompass the building, and probably powerful enough to destroy it two times over.

Once the spell had ceased, she landed in front of me, confident that I wouldn't be able to do it. I looked to Hibiki. "Abyss Break replicated," he confirmed.

"Abyss Break? That's a forbidden spell, where'd you learn it. I'm curious."

"Let's just say I've had more than one run in with the council and they used it to destroy a few of my bases," she explained nonchalantly.

With that, I rose into the air and thought back to the strokes she made, though I soon realized that they were too fast for me to see, but then again, she didn't actually form the magic circle, so it shouldn't really matter.

"Devil Slayer's Ars Arcanum: Cosmic Shatter!" I made some of the strokes, and released my magic in a massive circle of light in front of me, holding it for longer than Amber did, finding it difficult to keep in check, before releasing it, with the circle collapsing in on itself before shooting itself out into the aforementioned beam.

I landed with Amber looking half shocked and half annoyed that I did it.

"I think it's time I ended this," I stated, soon realizing that I was invested in this battle, like it actually mattered. But still, suddenly, I was determined to win this, no matter what. Perhaps her pride was rubbing off on me.

"Inside or out?" she questioned.

"Inside should be fine, so long as you can handle it."

"You underestimate me," she assured.

We returned to the building, and I took my position. "It might be best for you to stand back. Even you probably couldn't take this attack and stay standing."

I built up my magic power a bit first, before shooting my right fist up into the air, a bright white light resonating from it before being released in a rising column of pure energy around me. "Devil Slayer's Ars Arcanum: Devil's Shine!" Once a sufficient amount of magic was around me, I shot my fist forward, using my other arm to steady it and concentrate the magic power as the magic power formed in a wide circle around us, quickly closing it on its center, which would be squeezing out the magic power of my opponent had there been one to damage, before imploding on itself in the form of a massive explosion of white lightning around us.

I was breathing heavily. "Jeez, haven't done that in a while," I muttered to myself, turning to Amber who had been studying the spell carefully. "Good luck with that one," I stated.

She turned to Hibiki. "I…don't have any files on that particular spell."

"Then how do we know if it's a replication?" she questioned.

"I doubt that there'd be any files; it a replication of a spell distinct to Fairy Tail, a replication of Fairy Glitter, and to my knowledge only Cana and I have ever cast it, at least in this age. It's what got me my title," I flexed my arm, the one with the mark on its hand. "It's a sacred spell. When and if you actually do it, you have to promise that you won't use it ever again."

"Fine, sure," she waved me off before taking my position.

The next couple minutes were in a dumbfounded stupor, as I watched, point for point, her copy me and correctly replicate the spell with perfect accuracy. "H-How-"

"I'll admit, it was hard…but not impossible," she said with a shrug, clearly having been tired out from the spell even more than me, but she still did it. I sighed. That was my trump card; what did I have that couldn't be copied by her now? Well, there was…maybe after things get ridiculous would I resort to _that_ spell.

And so, the competition continued for about seven more rounds, taking up nearly an hour of time, enough for the rest of the group to have finished off their opponents and come watch. I was getting visibly annoyed and not having won by now. Call me an egotist if you will, but I'd expected to win handily against a no-name Dark Guild leader with a superiority complex.

"Do you concede yet?" she questioned, also getting tired of this game.

"Not a chance," I said stubbornly. "You started it, and you're finishing it," I said, standing to take my turn. "But I warn you; this _is_ going to be the last round. If you pull this off, then I'll concede…but only because I might be scarred for life…" I said the last part under my breath.

I took a deep breath, remembering back to Tenrou Island where I first saw the spell. I needed to do this perfectly, or else I would be scarred or dead or something else.

I outstretched my arms before swiftly pulling them in with my palms facing inward, my hands diagonal and across from each other, a small yet dense sphere of white magical energy forming between them. I shifted my hands as the sphere expanded before slamming my palms together, crushing the sphere into an even smaller space.

"Inigo! You _can't_ use that!" Erza yelled, trying to get over to me, but was being held back.

"Would you shut up?! I'm trying to concentrate!" I snapped back.

I rose into the air, being suspended by the sheer amount of my magic power being condensed before I opened my eyes, with my entire body being seemingly possessed by the magic as the same shade of light enveloped the sky above us and the sphere expanded yet again, somehow growing more densely packed. "Devil Slayer's Ars Arcanum: Hell's Judgement!" I yelled as the sphere exploded around me, the resulting explosion enveloping the entire building, and yet not doing a single person harm as the light died down.

As everything settled, with my friends staring on in shock, I plopped down onto my ass, panting. Once they had recovered, my group rushed to my side. "Are you okay?"

"How are you feeling?"

"Does anything feel strange to you?"

"Do you have a third arm now or something?"

I shook my head to all of their questions. "No, I think I'm fine."

I turned to Hibiki. He nodded. "Fairy Law, successfully replicated," he said. I then turned to the Amber, with only a tired expression on my face.

"Go ahead," I said. "But if you do it and you do it incorrectly, or you stop halfway, you'll undergo serious side-effects. It could spell death, or permanent illness, or a deformity or something else. Just keep that in mind."

She looked confident as ever. "Thanks for the warning, but I don't think it was necessary."

She took the position, and, once again point for point, copied my movements and magic, if a bit weaker than my version. However, she stopped at the part where she rose into the air, her magic seemingly not obeying her command as it expanded early. I grimaced, as the spell was already screwed up from that, but she forced it to continue anyway, being so consumed with pride that she would do it.

Her shadows expanded, enveloping all of us, and while all of us were unharmed when the dust settled, Amber was nowhere to be seen. I stood. "We should look for her," I stated.

Everyone else nodded their agreement. "Hopefully she's still here."

"I'm still here you morons!" a quiet voice was heard from above us, and when we looked, we saw a little version of Amber flying above us, with what looked like beautiful silky butterfly wings sprouting from her back, keeping her aloft. She flew up to me and kicked my nose. "You jerk! You tricked me! You knew this would happen, so change me back!"

"Um…"

The others looked as confused as I was. "Did Fairy Law just make her…" Gray trailed off.

"Turn into a Fairy?" Erza finished.

I chuckled. "What's so funny?!" Amber demanded. I then laughed at the sound of her voice. "You're making me so mad!"

"Nothing, sorry. It's just that your voice got a little higher; it sounds really funny to me!" the other soon started laughing in agreement. I turned to Hibiki.

"She didn't replicate the spell successfully, so Amber is the loser and you are the victor."

I grinned and then continued laughing, though eventually, I started coughing, my slight illness taking its course for a moment. I continued laughing as I stood.

"Hey! Did any of you bozos hear me? I said to change me back!"

"Not sure if we can," I said, waving her off. "Besides, I have no further business with you, so why should I help you?"

"Because you're a wizard; aren't wizards supposed to help people?"

"Yeah, but what did _you_ do? You threatened my friend's life."

"Did not!"

"Ha! Your voice got even higher!" I exclaimed as I held her on my hand so she wouldn't have to constantly be flying. I looked to the others. "You think Porlyusica will mind a little company?"

They all got pained looks on their faces. "Good luck with that," they all said in unison, turning and leaving, save for Kagura and Mirajane.

With that, we returned to Magnolia, and I alone took Amber to Porlyusica to hear her consensus. "What's wrong with her?" I asked as the fairy was examined.

"She turned into a pixie," the old woman answered quickly.

"You mean fairy?"

"Same difference. There isn't anything else wrong."

"Well, can you fix it, you old hag?" Amber questioned, only getting slapped across the room for the insult.

"No, I can't."

"What?! Why not?"

"Well, let's just say that it was by your own decision, and therefore only you can undo it, and given that I don't sense any magic from you, I doubt you can undo it."

"So I'm…stuck like this?!" she demanded. "No, no, no, no, no, no, that's not acceptable! I have a life!"

"Not anymore," the woman answered.

I grabbed Amber by the wings and left to keep her from trying to hit the apothecary, muttering a quick "thank you" as I did out of respect. Amber rode on my shoulder back to the town. "So what now? Are you gonna make me your servant for life or something?" Amber questioned, clearly in a bad mood.

"Nope," I answered. "I have no use for you."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Although, I do have one request."

"Oh yeah? And what's that?" she asked.

"I'm gonna ask you to help my kid, when and if he/she decides to become a wizard."

"Your kid? Do you even have one?"

I scratched my chin. "Not yet, but I plan to, at some point. Anyway, you know about just about every spell under the sun, right? At least a fair few types given that you could replicate them from memory like that."

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, give them advice. Stick with 'em on their adventures. If they're anything like me, they're gonna need it."

"And what's stopping me from saying no and leaving?"

"Nothing except the goodness of your heart."

"Goodness of my heart?"

"Given that you could've seriously hurt my friend and chose not to, I'd say you have some good in you."

"You're trusting the leader of a Dark Guild?"

"Yeah, like you guys are really a Dark Guild. That's just a title," I said. "You're not really a Dark Guild unless you actually do something dark, and something that leaves an impact of some kind. All you've done is capture a friend and lose to me, so…yeah, you weren't a Dark Guild."

"You're an ass, you know that?" she stated as she flew in front of me. "Fine, I'll babysit your demon child, freak. Now can I kindly leave?"

"Sure, whenever you want. Oh yeah, and don't come by the guild. If they knew that Fairies existed and _didn't_ have tails, they'd freak out and then the fun would be ruined."

"I wasn't planning on visiting you, if that's what you were implying," she said as she flew off lazily. She then turned around slightly. "Oh yeah, and I _do_ have a tail," she said as the appendage became visible, extending through her pants and coming out the bottom ever so slightly. "Get your facts straight, Alter Fairy."

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hey guys, it's been a while and I haven't really been keeping good on my promise, but whatever.**

 **I know I'm gonna get a lot of crap for ruining the concept of the Fairy Tail Guild, but again, this in't canon and she's not going to be int eh rest of the story because Inigo just sent her off, so please just don't complain about it in reviews unless it's a side note to the actual review.**

 **Anyway, speaking of, come on! Let's get _at least_ ten before the filler arcs end, if not more which would be completely awesome!**


	38. 38 Return

"I hate fishing…" I moaned as I sat on a thundercloud high above the ground, the fishing rod resting in my lap as I sat in a bored stupor next to the waving suspended river.

"Then remind me why we're fishing before we go meet them?" Mirajane asked.

"Well…see…last time…"

Flashback…

" _Ha! Finally finished it!" I pumped up the small packet of papers triumphantly before coughing from having breathed in too quickly._

 _I stood and exited my home, which had become a mess since the whole Amber Coffin ordeal. Actually, I'd heard they disbanded even, so…yeah, goes to show their organization._

 _I marched straight to the guild, plopping down the papers in front of Makarov. "I'm taking a vacation!" I claimed._

" _Hm? Where to?"_

" _To Edolas!" I claimed once again._

" _Edolas?" the word sparked interest in Gray and Erza, along with Mirajane. "Wasn't the last remnant of Anima destroyed when Mystogan-"_

" _Yeah, yeah, but see, I've bypassed that," I showed them all the papers detailing the complex spell. "I've managed to recreate the Anima spell from what I saw and felt when Fairy Tail was sucked up, and figured out its magic circle. With that, all I had to do was tweak it a bit to make it a simple teleportation spell without any of the magic-stealing effects. Viola! Instant Edolas road-trip ticket!"_

" _Ooh! Can I come?" Natsu slung his arm around my shoulders. "I've been meaning to catch up with Edo-Natsu and-"_

" _Edo-Lucy?" I asked._

 _Natsu grimaced. "What? Are you crazy man? She's a psycho."_

" _I heard that!" Lucy stated as she smacked his head to the bar. "And_ I _for one want to meet Edo-Fairy Tail too!"_

" _Then how about I take the whole guild with me?" I offered._

" _Don't you think that'll freak them out?" Gray reminded._

" _And how do we know something didn't happen to make things dangerous over there again," Erza said._

" _Now hold on, children, we don't know anything about this Edolas. Do we know if it was safe to begin with?"_

" _Oh trust me, I know better than anybody," I assured him. "That Edolas is far from safe."_

" _That isn't helping the cause, nakama," Mirajane offered._

" _Alright, fine, fine, what if I go and take two people with me. One to accompany me to Edo-Fairy Tail, and one to go to Mystogan to get the okay to bring the guild?"_

" _That…could work. Who would you pick?"_

" _You'd pick me, right?" Natsu raised and lowered his eyebrows._

" _Probably Mirajane and Erza, why?" I answered, ignoring the Dragon Slayer._

" _What?!"_

" _Sorry Natsu, but you're too intimidating…and not intimidating enough. If we need to ease everyone into trusting us, then Mira will help there, and if we need to scare them into submission, namely mine and Erza's counterparts who were total nutjobs last time, then Erza will be needed more than you," I reasoned._

 _Makarov nodded. "Very well. Ladies, do you agree?"_

 _Erza nodded. "I'd love to meet with Erza again. I feel like we came to an understanding last we fought."_

" _Yeah, key word being 'fought' so be prepared just in case," I reminded. "And Mirajane, um…you know who will be there, so…" I avoided saying the name._

" _It'll be the happiest moment of my life," she assured. "Alright let's go!"_

 _Soon, all three of us were ready and I cast the spell, transporting us to the world known as Edolas. We began falling._

" _How do we stop?!" Mirajane called over the wind._

" _I was banking us Erza and I retaining our magic!" I called back, quickly forming a thundercloud under us. "Well, this world's magic may be gone, but our magic is still intact from those snacks that Mystogan gave us," I commented._

" _Indeed. I believe I can make it to the capitol form here," Erza said as we landed. "Use your telepathy to contact me when you want to meet back up" she said as she walked off._

 _I nodded after her before turning to Mirajane. "Ready to meet Edo-Fairy Tail?"_

" _As ready as ever," she claimed. "I can't wait to meet your counterpart, actually."_

 _I grimaced, suddenly remembering. "Um…about that…have I ever told you about my counterpart?" I asked, scratching the back of my head in embarrassment._

" _You said he was an enemy, but after the conflict, I'd assumed he was forgiven, as you were."_

" _Um…I'm…not willing to take that chance."_

Present…

"Yeah, um…I'm betting on most of them still hating my guts," I answered finally. "I might as well bring them dinner to try and coax them into letting me in."

"Isn't that why I'm here?" Mira questioned.

"Well, yeah, but- oh! Got one! Finally!"

"So this is Fairy Tail in Edolas, eh?" Mirajane looked half awed and half confused. "It's…a tree?"

"Yep," I answered, the gigantic fish being slung over my shoulder.

"I don't see why you're so scared of it. It's Fairy Tail, they love me."

"Yeah, you and not me. Last time I even had Natsu and they still tried to beat me up," I whined.

"Quit your complaining," she said as we approached it. She knocked on the door, and we entered. Everything immediately stopped once we entered, and they were in the middle of their own brawl.

I was the only one who made noise, laughing nervously. "Oh, uh…h-hey guys! I'm back…?" my voice caught up. Everybody remained silent. "I uh…I brought dinner," I said as showed them the fish I caught. "And I brought a friend."

"Are you…our Inigo?"

"Um…define our…"

Suddenly someone threw their arms around me. "Ash! It's been so long!"

The contact made me jump and in turn fall over backwards with Lisanna following me down. "Ah, oh…ow…" I rubbed my head before returning the hug. "Hello Lisanna. It's good to see you too, um…" I motioned to Mirajane. "This is…um…" I wasn't sure how to introduce her.

Mirajane herself looked too stunned for words as Lisanna stood and held her hand out. "Hi there, I'm the Lisanna from Edolas. You must be Big Sis from Earthland, right?"

Mirajane didn't shake her hand, but instead threw herself at Lisanna, overwhelmed with joy at seeing her little sister again.

With that revelation out of the way, everybody cheered at my arrival, calling me a hero…which felt good, I will admit. The feast had begun cooking. It was then that the Mirajanes met. With Mirajane interacting happily with Edo-Lisanna, Edo-Mira came up shyly. The two stood facing each other in silence, with the rest of us watching.

I know Mirajane took immediate note of Edo-Mira's lack of one of her eyes. Mirajane then smiled. "Hello, it's nice to meet you, Edo-Mira," she greeted as she held out her hand.

"Say," Edo-Lucy approached. "Where's the Natsu from you guys' world? Didn't he come with you last time?"

"Well…it's kind of a long story, but I can bring him later. Actually, we came here to kind of…get permission to bring our whole guild here."

"Really? Yes! I get to practice my techniques on two Natsus again!" Edo-Lucy fist-pumped.

"Another whole Fairy Tail guild?" Edo-Gray wondered. "It's hard to believe."

"Yeah, and I think ours is actually a bit bigger too," I added. "Actually, back when we first came, it would been about twice-"

I was interrupted as the building shook, like we were in an earthquake. Everyone ran outside to see a Legion, staring us down. I stepped forward, just in case it was a threat, but then it leaned forward, revealing flowing scarlet hair.

"The Fairy Hunter."

 **Author's Note:**

 **Talk about a repeat of cliffhangers...**

 **Anyway, I know this little side plot is kinda out of left field, but hey, I love Edolas and I think it's interesting to see what happened to Mystogan and Knightwalker and Edo-Fairy Tail after seven years.**

 **Anyway, whatever; this is gonna go on until its end in chapter 43, so if you absolutely can't stand Edolas, you can go ahead and skip this arc, but if not, then read on! Don't forget to review!**


	39. 39 Dark Kingdom

"The Fairy Hunter…" someone muttered, everyone slowly backing up. Sure enough, Erza Knightwalker was riding atop the Legion, but I could tell things weren't as they seemed.

Her body was laden with injuries, a clear sign of…something. Her hair had grown out once again to meet her counterpart's length and had tangled patches. Most of it was matted down with dirt and/or blood, it was difficult to see the latter though. Anyway, she slowly let go of the reins and slid off of the Legion, literally. She fell straight to the ground sloppily, crashing into it and crying out in pain when she landed, though she quickly bit her lip to keep from showing weakness.

I rushed to her side. "She's hurt," I stated to the others. Upon examination, I found that her wrists and ankles were bound, implying captivity of some sort.

"So what? Let's just throw her off the cliff and put her out of her misery."

"What? No, we should help her," I argued, taking off my sling and picking her up, with her only half-conscious for all of this.

"There's no way we're letting her in the guild hall," Edo-Lucy remained adamant, as did the rest of the guild. "Not after what she did to us."

"But that was before, and she's too hurt to crush a fly, let alone one of you guys."

"The answer is still no."

"Well, then can you at least bring out some bandages or something? And a bed?"

With a bit more persuasion, Edo-Fairy Tail conceded, bring out the necessary items. I cut her bonds and started patching her up, finishing as the sun set. I was sitting on the edge of the cliff as she came to on the bed behind me.

She moaned weakly as she awoke. I turned around to see her holding her head. "Evening, sleepyhead," I greeted with a smile as she stared at me for only a moment before screaming and rolling off the other side of the mattress, peeking her head out cautiously. "What's with you?"

"What are you doing back here?" she demanded. "You were banished from nearly every civilization under the sun."

"Jeez, I only got here this morning!" I argued.

"Only got here…?" she started to put two and two together. "Asher?"

"That'd be me," I confirmed as I stood and walked over to her. "You're pretty cut up; you shouldn't be moving," I said as I forcibly picked her up and put her back on the mattress, much to her dismay.

"I can handle myself, thank you very much!"

"Don't be stubborn; it'll only make things harder."

"…Where are we?"

"Outside of Edolas' Fairy Tail."

"I see, so I _did_ make it. It wasn't just a dream," she said with relief. "How did you come back? All magic was purged from the world over seven years ago. And how come you don't look any different from last time?"

"Well, it's kind of a long story. Consider it…a seven-year-long hangover on Earthland Fairy Tail's part. A lot of us haven't aged in that time, and we only recently got back into the swing of things. As for how I got here, I figured out the anima spell and tweaked it, and that got us here. What about you? How've the years been treating you?"

"Terribly," she answered swiftly.

"So I'd guessed. You wanna tell me why though?"

"The kingdom has gone dark once again."

"Really? How so?"

"Jellal, or…I guess he would be Mystogan for you, had suddenly got this idea that we needed magic power again, and has been trying to recreate anima for four years."

"And he hasn't yet?"

"We don't have the magic to use it, even if he would have figured it out."

"So that means…" I shot up. "Erza!" I realized, though, again, I took in too sharp a breath and started coughing.

"Are you…okay?" she wondered as I held up my hand as I finished the fit.

"Just a little cold," I assured her. "I need to get to the kingdom; our Erza might be in trouble," I stated, about to get Mira.

"Wait, Scarlet is back too?"

I nodded, trying to get in touch with her. "Erza? Erza, can you hear me?"

"Who are you-"

" _Ini…"_ I heard a faint voice.

"Erza! Please, tell me you're okay!"

" _Don't…come near…the-"_ the sentence was cut short by a cry of pain on the other end. " _D-don't…_ "

"Erza!"

Her voice wasn't heard after that. Either she had lost consciousness, or something blocked my telepathy. Knightwalker looked confused. "Um…what was-"

"Telepathy magic; don't question!" I snapped, trying desperately to think of a way to get Erza out of there without putting myself or either of the Fairy Tail's in danger. "Damn it, damn it, damn it! Even if I bring our Fairy Tail, they won't have magic except for a few of them, and they're not enough for the entire army!" I exclaimed, extremely frustrated.

" _Inigo…"_ Erza's voice once again filled my ears. " _Mystogan…town square…tomorrow morning…"_

I clenched my fist. I had no other choice than to go. "Mira!" I called inside, with the woman, actually both of them, coming out to meet my call.

"What is it, nakama?"

"I've got bad news; Mystogan has gone insane and he captured Erza. He wants me to go to the town square tomorrow."

"Alright, then I'll go with you."

"No!" I snapped. "No, no, you don't have magic. Listen, I'm going to alter the Anima spell a little and make it a portal that should last a couple days. Bring anyone who was here before. They'll have magic."

"What about after that?"

"In my house, somewhere, is a pouch that have little round snacks. Mystogan gave them to me last time and it allowed us to use magic. If you can, find them and give them to the strongest people you can find," I finished.

"But, you…alright, be careful."

I turned to Edo-Mira. "And you, make sure to keep Fairy Tail away from the capitol. Whatever you have to do."

She nodded and both returned inside. I then turned toward Knightwalker. "Do you know about any weak points in the palace's structure? Anything that I could exploit to get Erza Scarlet free?"

"Well…I don't know. I've been in a cell for two years, and apparently the layout has changed since then. I'm sorry, Asher. But I want to come with you," she stood.

"What? That's rich; the answer is no," I said as I urged her back down, though she swatted my hand away.

"If you can face him while ill, then I can face him while injured," she argued. "You're just as vulnerable during a fit like you had earlier as I am if my arm was to give out mid-swing."

"I…but you…" I tried to think of a counter to that, but I didn't have one, and it didn't really help that I had those calculating eyes staring through my soul the whole time. "Fine, but you have to promise to stay behind me. Be my third eye in the back of my head."

"That's…a strange metaphor, but I'll accept."

"Do you need a weapon?"

"I'd prefer one," she answered, to which I made her a makeshift spear with my magic. "Will this work?"

"It's…fine for now," she answered as I willed it away, sitting down and pulling out my papers from my back pocket.

"Good, you can use it tomorrow. Now, just let me work this out for a minute…" I trailed off, becoming engrossed in thought, not realizing that the moon had come up and there was nothing but a candle lighting my research. Soon, the spell was finished. Knightwalker had drifted off into a fitful sleep during my work.

I stood, dashing into the building and finding Mirajane, pulling her out.

"Alright, the spell is finished. Are you ready?" I asked. "And don't forget where the portal is, okay?"

"I won't. I promise," she wrapped her arms around my waist. "Listen, I may not be invested in this world as it seems you are, but I won't let you down on something that you ask me to do, no matter what, you know?"

"I know, but it's just…our guild is in danger, a version of our guild anyway. And our guildmate is suffering, and Mystogan could be-"

"I know," she interrupted, separating from me. "Alright, make the portal and let me go on with my day."

I nodded, holding my hand out and forming the magic circle, with the portal soon appearing and Mira walking through it.

I took a deep breath, seeing the sun just peeking over the horizon. I went over to Knightwalker as she was sleeping and shook her. "Hey, it's time we get going," I said as she stirred. She nodded lazily and stood up, shifting form one foots to the other, wincing slightly, but otherwise fine.

"Alright, I'm ready."

"Hm, strange; your counterpart is usually pretty irritable in the morning."

"Well my counterpart can be an idiot," Knightwalker countered. "Now let's go get her before Mystogan sucks all of her magic out of her."

I nodded, holding my hand out a forming a thundercloud big enough for the two of us. "Your Legion is too conspicuous for this, he'll stay here," I said as I stepped on, waiting for her to do the same. I turned around as she just stood there. "Are you getting on or what?"

"Is that…safe?"

"As safe as your Legion," I stated, offering my hand, and she took it, slowly making her way up onto the cloud. "See? Nothing to worry about. Alright, let's get going," I said as I willed us forward, soon sailing through the sky.

"Your magic confuses me."

"So does this world's obsession with it," I countered.

"I'd thought we'd gotten through the phase of obsession, but I was mistaken," Knightwalker said somberly.

"Oh yeah, how'd you end up in prison?"

"I spoke out against Jellal. It was the hardest thing I'd ever done, even harder than giving up magic," she claimed.

"It sounds like you care a lot for him, even if he tortured you."

She turned away, with me only seeing the slightest hint of a blush before she did. "Yes, well…he's my King. It's only natural for me to worry."

"Well…Mystogan isn't someone to just let himself get out of control. Something must be controlling him," I said, immediately thinking back to Zeref's comment on Edolas.

"… _they've made the same repeat mistakes again and again as well…"_

"That means he must've been here in the past four years…" I muttered.

"What?" Knightwalker wondered.

"Nothing. Anyway, if I remember right, the city was like one huge circle, spiraling in on itself, correct?"

"That's correct."

"Then where would the town square be?"

"Right outside the palace. It was commonly used for executions, back when Lord Faust was in power, but now, or at least when I could see, it's not used for much of anything other than progress reports that would make citizens happy," the redhead stated. I nodded.

"Alright…no matter what, stay hidden in the crowd."

"What? Asher, I'm _going_ to fight and-"

"No, what you're going to do is die," I argued. "Listen, I need you to survey everything; where archers are placed and where soldiers are coming out from. I'm going to keep Mystogan busy, so I won't be able to take note of any of that. I need you to be my eyes."

"I see; very well. I accept."

"Good, because we're almost there," I stated, seeing the city come into view. I landed a mile or two away from it. "We can walk from here. Oh! And…" I took off my jacket and draped it over her, pulling the hood up. "You're still freshly wanted."

"And you're still banished," she countered. "What'll be your disguise?"

"See, this is where a Magic Instant-Tan like Ren has would be useful," I said to myself.

"That both sounds ridiculous and aids us in no way shape or form," she stated, deadpan. "Ideas would be great."

"Well I…I'll improvise."

"You _better_ not be getting any sick ideas in your head."

"Only a few," I joked. "Anyway, let's get a move on. Scarlet said 'tomorrow morning' and I don't want to risk being late," I said as I started walking, with Knightwalker following close behind.

Soon, we were inside the city, and everything seemed…strange as it sounds, both too mellow and too tense. Is that a contradiction? Anyway, the citizens seem to just go about their regular day, not a bad word or fight to be seen as far as the eye could see, but for every citizen roaming, there were two guards watching them. The guards are who seemed tense, as if something could explode at any minute.

Knightwalker tugged on my sling. "This way," she said as she rounded a corner into an alleyway, right before a couple of guards were about to stop us, and they pursued.

Knightwalker pulled me close. I agreed with the motion and pulled our lips to touch, not daring make it a real kiss for my own hide if Mirajane ever found out, but still enough to fake one.

That seemed to ward them off, as even in their presumably rigid regime, they have respect for when people want to ram each other's tongues down their throat. Anyway, once the threat had passed, we separated and continued on, not making mention of it.

Finally, as we approached the square, I heard his voice, Mystogan's. "Inigo Asher! Come forth or risk your friend's safety!" he called down to the crowd that had gathered.

I could only do a quick survey before taking action, but hey, that's what Knightwalker was here for, right? Anyway, from what I saw, archers were placed on the wall, how many I wasn't sure of, with Mystogan standing center stage on the palace wall, with Erza Scarlet hanging from bound wrists, her armor having been stripped of her, leaving her undignified with her underwear only barely covering after having been ripped slightly.

"You have five seconds, Inigo Asher! Step forth!"

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hey! So I'm just waiting for time to pass in my last week before school starts back up and uh...yeah, I figured I might as well give you guys about twenty minutes of entertainment with a new chapter!**


	40. 40 You Have Three Seconds

"You have five seconds, Inigo Asher! Step forth!"

I turned to Knightwalker. "Just whisper when to dodge, alright?" I asked, to which she nodded.

"5, 4, 3…2-"

"I'm right here!" I yelled up, hopping onto a thundercloud and rising above the crowd in hopes of keeping them out of the crossfire. "Let Erza go, Mystogan!"

"Ah, there you are…my second entrée…" he muttered as he raised his hand, but none of the archers readied their bows that I could see.

" _Behind you, ten archers are readying their bows_ ," Knightwalker warned. I just barely heard them fire before I flew above their arrows.

"You gave me a timer, so I'll give you one; you have three seconds to release my friend before I kick your teeth in in front of your people," I stated. I saw him give the order. "3," the archers readied their bows as I made two swords for me to use, slipping off the sling as I did. "2," the archers took a second to aim and then released their arrows. "1!" I soared downward below the arrows, coming up right in Mystogan's face, knocking him away with the hilt of one of my swords before cutting Erza free, willing one of my swords away to carry her. I cut a couple of arrows that were fired.

" _Below you, more archers. Soldiers coming from your left, and cavalry should be approaching the square soon too,_ " Knightwalker stated.

I hopped onto a thundercloud with Scarlet under my arm, beginning to fly away. "Shoot him! He doesn't need to be conscious to sap his power, so shoot him all you want! Now!" Mystogan yelled. I would say I felt a dark presence similar to Kagura's, but that would be lying. Mystogan didn't have a dark presence surrounding him, at least not one that I could feel.

I narrowly avoided a couple more arrows before landing in the scattering crowd. While it didn't exactly bode well that they were now in harm's way, I'd say it would be my best chance of survival.

I blocked one guy's blade and kicked him away, shooting bolts at several others as the crowd continued dispersing, soon creating a hole for me to exploit, with guards coming down it, ripe for the slaughter. Well, I wasn't going to actually slaughter them, but…you know.

I turned toward the pathway. "Thunder Devil's Rage!" I yelled, sending a blast just big enough of ill the hole, knocking back the whole of the soldiers coming down it, with the crowd nearly entirely gone by now.

Suddenly, a magic circle formed around me. If I'd had both hands, I would've negated it with my own magic, but I just had to face the music on this one. "Skyscraper!"

I suddenly got this feeling of rising, as I watched, the world soared below me as I rose into the stars where magical belts wrapped around my legs and torso, locking my arms to my sides, with Erza still in one of them. After that, a portal appeared above me, with a reptilian-looking demon plunged down to meet me, reaching its hand out to grab me. Fear welled up inside me, trying desperately to think of what the hell type of magic this was. "Thunder Devil's Rage!" I yelled only again, shooting the beam at the monster as its image shattered, revealing the real world and Mystogan in place of the demon.

He twirled his staves. "Three Layered Magic Circle: Mirror Water!" he yelled as my attack was bounced back at my with twice the power I'd say, engulfing me.

"Damn it! If this wasn't my lightning I'd totally eat it!" I claimed, trying to shield Erza as much as I could. As the magic stopped, I stood staring Mystogan down. "What the _hell_ is wrong with you?" I demanded.

He held his hand out. "If you wish to save this world, then come with me and relinquish your magic to us."

"Like hell I will!" I held my blade up to point at him. "They may not be the same attitudes here, but this crusade is putting Fairy Tail at risk. Much more tampering with this and you could put all of Edolas in a state of permanent fear. Is that really what you want?"

"For those who'd succumb to your lies, they can rot in hell with the rest of the nonbelievers," he claimed, his hair shrouding his eyes, which looked blood red in the light. "The King will live on in glorious magical bliss. He will do so under my watch, by my hand, or so help me I'll die trying."

"As an S-Class Mage of Fairy Tail, I can't let you do that. I've already sent for reinforcements. Natsu and Gray and everyone else who'd been here to stop your _precious_ King are coming to stop you."

"Let them come; it'll be more magic for us," he claimed, holding his arms out dramatically. "Now, let us give them a hell to walk into, shall we?"

I clenched my teeth. As much as this guy was pissing me off, I couldn't hope to fight on even ground with him while also worrying about Erza. I relinquished my sword, shooting my hand out. "Thunder Devil's Flash!" As the attack went off and caused a bright light to erupt, I made a break for it. "Knightwalker. Where are you?"

" _Not far. Bank left when you leave the square,"_ I did so. " _There's a blockade that way, make a right in the alleyway."_

I dashed through the straight alley, only to be spotted. "Get him!" around twenty guards started giving chase. I emerged from the side street.

"Alright, now what?"

" _Um…"_

"Knightwalker; I'm kind of in a hurry here," I stated, seeing the guards starting to catch up.

" _Try going right. I'm going to try and meet up with you somewhere along that street, just don't turn and I'll find you._ "

I nodded and dashed into the crowd, pushing through, yes, but remaining hidden. The guards that were pursuing me went right past me, so I'd say that it worked. My eyes shifted and flitted from left to right endlessly, searching and scanning my surroundings for any possible threats that could spot me. Suddenly, I got a tap on the arm, and Knightwalker fell into step alongside me.

"Alright, what's the plan?" she asked.

"We fly out of here."

"That…won't work," she stated. "Archers would be aiming at us as we gain height. We'd never make it past the walls."

"Alright, then what do you propose?"

"How about we try…" she tried to think.

"Well how'd you get out?"

"I had a Legion with skin strong enough to deflect arrows," she stated. "You don't have that luxury."

"I'm also not at death's door."

"But Scarlet is; we can't risk it."

"Is there a sewer system in the city?"

"Yeah? Why?"

"Well, it has to let out somewhere, right?"

"I suppose…Hold on, let me think…alright. Turn right," she ordered, and as we did, we ran right into a wall of soldiers. "Or…maybe not."

I sighed, grabbing her hand and turning the other way, with the guards once again on my tail, now our tail, as we ran through the streets. "Still not up for flying out?" I questioned.

"Find a manhole," she said. I searched desperately, but we had to run for quite a while before we came across one. I opened it, and she went first. I quickly fed Erza down to her, and then jumped down myself, letting it close as I did, hearing the footsteps of our pursuers going past us overhead. I let out a sigh of relief. "Sorry about that. I had no idea that-"

"It's fine, so long as you're not hurt," I stated, seeing no reason to freak out, especially when we weren't out of danger yet.

"What was that?" a voice was heard in the darkness as two more guard came close, eyeing us for a moment.

"Um…case in point," I stated, blasting them both unconscious so they wouldn't inform on us. "Alright, which way?"

"This way," she said as she started walking. I followed her down.

"Knightwalker, it's not that I don't trust you, but if you're leading me to a trap-"

"I'm not. I want to get as far away from this city as possible, with Scarlet in tow. Even if I were trying to capture you and this has all been a ruse, I would still want to do at least that for her. You I could care less about though."

"Wow, thanks…and to clarify, this _wasn't_ all a ruse, right?"

"Well…you probably can't trust me on this, but no, it's not. I was imprisoned for over two years and was tortured to my breaking point. That's something that you can't fake."

"It doesn't seem like you were tortured. I thought you, like, wouldn't be able to talk or anything if that was true."

"How about this? I don't want to talk about _it_. Everything else is fine, but if you mention _it_ again, then I'm leaving you for dead and taking Scarlet," she claimed.

"Whoa, okay, alright. I see your point."

"…We're almost out by the way."

I nodded, seeing the light ahead of us without her saying that. Once we reached the edge, I made a cloud for us, laying Erza across my lap, and allowing Knightwalker on as well, before taking off.

It seems that they had soldiers waiting for us though, as archers began firing on us almost immediately, along with soldiers giving chase on foot and on Legions. "Damn, it bites being a convict…" I muttered as I dodged some of the arrows. "Here, hold Scarlet for a moment," I said as I shifted out from under her, standing and deflecting a few arrows, charging up my magic power.

I took a deep breath. "Thunder Devil's Rage!" I yelled, forcing the beam to spread out over a large area, wide enough to be wall a wall of pure white energy, completely obliterating every arrow that might've been coming for us and causing a blinding flash that lasted, allowing us quick escape.

We fled for the trees, where no one would be able to spot us, soon losing the guards and able to take things slower. I was panting, and I hadn't realized. I took off my shirt for a moment, seeing my markings almost all the way across my chest. "Jeez, haven't had to worry about that for a while…" I mumbled as I put my shirt back on. "And I lost my sling…"

"We should get back to Fairy Tail and warn them," Knightwalker said. I nodded.

"We need to tell them to move locations, to pack up and get the hell out of there. Fairy Tail is the first place they'll look for us. I also need to close the portal before anyone comes through."

Knightwalker furrowed her brow. "I thought you said-"

"I can't risk Mystogan getting enough magic to recreate an Anima large enough to engulf my Fairy Tail ever again. With only Erza's magic, I can only hope, but…if he were to get his hands on anyone else…"

"But without anyone else, we have only us and Fairy Tail."

"Then we'll make due," I stated. "What? You don't think I'm enough?"

"No, I don't," she said frankly. "Not if Jellal has magic again."

"Stolen from Erza no doubt. But that also means he's limited in the amount he can use. I just have to stall against him until he runs out of magic power and then I can beat him, and once that happens I'll force him to get the army to back down and-"

"And who's going to keep the army off of your back while you fight him?" she questioned as we approached Fairy Tail.

"Well…" I didn't actually want Fairy tail fighting; they'd done enough of that over the years I'm sure. "I'll figure something out."

"Right…"

We landed and I hopped off. "Wait here. I'll only be a few minutes, and then we'll be off."

I went over to the door and knocked, being greeted cheerily enough by Lucy Ashley. "Hey there, Ash! Did it go well?"

"What?"

"Mirajane told us you went out to explore."

"What? N-no, I didn't explore. I saved my friend. Listen, Mystogan, or Jellal, is after me and Knightwalker. I'd assume he'd look here, so you all should move locations for the time being, until they search the place thoroughly enough to give up on it."

"What?!" she rushed it to inform everyone. Seeing my job done, I exited quickly finding the Anima portal I left. I held my hand up, about to dissipate it. I hesitated.

"Can I really do this alone?" I asked myself, a soft breeze rolling in. I shook my head. "But I'm not alone; they're always watching over me, right?"

I then closed the portal and returned to Knightwalker, ready to set off.


	41. 41 Theories

Once we fled far enough away, and once the sun had set, I landed, giving myself a break to recover magic for tomorrow. "Alright, we can camp here. Are these trees flammable?"

"They should be," Knightwalker answered as she dragged a still unconscious Erza Scarlett off of the cloud so I could let it dissipate. I quickly gathered a few sticks, laying them in a clear pile and them zapping them, lighting a small fire.

"Hey, this may be a long shot, but you wouldn't happen to have food on you?" I said, my stomach growling.

She gave me a deadpan look. "I just got out of a cell two days ago; what do you think?"

"Then the answer is no…" I moaned.

Knightwalker chuckled, a rare sight. "Gods, you Earthland wizards can be so irritating," she commented.

"Uugnn…" Scarlet stirred. We let her awake slowly. She first opened her eyes and then struggled to keep her arms underneath her body without collapsing. "W-where…?"

"Jeez, it took you long enough," I said as I sat next to her. "We've only been lugging you around unconscious all day," I stated.

"I…"

Knightwalker put her hand on Erza's shoulder. "How are you feeling, Scarlet?"

"Knightwalker?" Erza looked confused. She reached up to my face. "And are you…"

"I'm Earthland's Inigo, yeah."

Erza tried to sit up fully. "Then…what of Mysto-gah!" she held her side and fell back onto her back.

"Whoa there!" we both rushed to aid her. "You shouldn't really be moving right now. Mystogan really did a number on you earlier."

"I'm…not even sure I remember what happened," she admitted.

"If I had to guess, I'd say that he tortured you and drained you of your magic power in a _very_ short amount of time," I told her.

"I just…don't understand…"

"Well…" I thought back to what Mystogan had said during our brief encounter.

"… _the King will live on in glorious magical bliss…by my hand, or so help me I'll die trying…"_

"I…have a few theories, if you're interested, though I think it'd be best if we all just got some rest," I stated, lying down and putting my arms behind my head as a make-shift pillow.

The Erzas soon agreed and drifted into sleep, while I remained awake to think. I needed to think of something, of anything to just…I wasn't even sure what I needed to do. I didn't know whether to kill Mystogan or just take him off of the throne and banish him, it wouldn't even be my place to do so, but still, or maybe some other alternative.

I had so little to go off of that I wasn't even sure what was wrong. I didn't feel a dark aura around him, so it wasn't anything that could be classified as a demon or darkness or whatever you want to call it, but Mystogan was never one to just lose control like that. On paper, making him a ruler would be an ideal choice. However, maybe the pressure or the power was too much. He'd grown up without magic in a world teaming with it, perhaps he always felt powerless and now, with a position of power like being the King…no.

Actually, that theory is bullshit; Mystogan wouldn't do that, from the little I knew of him, at least not for a _long_ time, like twenty years in power minimum. Not to mention, he didn't even acknowledge himself as the King in our fight. He claimed that he was working in favor of the King, presumably Faust from before, which only begged the question of whether or not he was manipulating Mystogan or what.

Whatever the case, thinking about it any further wasn't helping. On that thought, I lulled myself to sleep along with the Erzas.

I awoke rather late to the lazy shaking of Knightwalker, who was basically on top of me, looking asleep herself. "What is it?" I asked.

"Wake up…" she moaned.

"You first," I pushed her off and turned away from her. My stomach was growling uncontrollably. "First order of business; get food."

"Good luck with that," Knightwalker said, turning away from me as well.

"Why do I have to do it?"

"Because we're both beautiful women asking for help," she said, turning back to me enough to give me a false pained expression. "And would you really turn that down?"

"Considering the fact that I'm a taken man, I probably would, especially if those women were worse devils than Mirajane when she gets pissed at me," I sat up and stretched, yawning as I did. "We should get moving as quickly as possible. For now, until we make a plan, we should distance ourselves from the kingdom."

Knightwalker nodded her agreement, but didn't move otherwise.

"Get up," I ordered.

"Five minutes…isn't that what people say when they're lazy asses like you?"

"Says the woman trying to go back to sleep," I retorted. "Scarlet," I called across the campsite. She looked over to me with a disinterested look. "Are you holding up?"

"Considering I can't move without pain accompanying it…I'm pretty good," she answered. I sighed as I stood and made a thundercloud for us, stomping out the rest of the ambering fire and picking up Erza, placing her atop the cloud.

I walked over to Knightwalker. "Get up," I repeated, nudging her with my foot a little, which she swatted away, not responding otherwise. "If you won't get up, I'm going to carry you," I stated.

With that comment and her pride, she stood rapidly, shuffling over to the cloud and crawling on, sitting patiently for me. I took one last glance to make sure the fire wouldn't be found before hopping on myself, starting to fly lazily off in a random direction other than the one we came from. Once we had gotten going, I sat down, resting Erza's head on my lap, with both Knightwalker and I being able to grab her should she start to fall off.

"Say, Knightwalker," she started. "Are there any other major settlements besides the capitol?"

Knightwalker nodded. "Actually, Edolas had multiple cities, but the capitol is so far away from them that normally it's three days in any given direction to get there by Legion, so we usually don't go there unless it's for military purposes. Besides, none of them are as large as the capitol."

"I see."

"There's also smaller settlements too, independent cottages, small inns, etc. Hopefully we'll find one so we can perhaps ask for food," she held her stomach as it growled, with mine following in suite. "I'm starving now…"

"You're preaching to the choir on that one," I agreed.

"I haven't been this hungry in a long time. Not since…I first met you actually. Dirge and I had been on a weeklong hunt for the Fairies, and we hadn't eaten at all during that time."

"Yeah, because you were obsessed."

"Whatever," she waved off the comment. "Anyway, I've moved past that time, unlike Dirge who's gods know where since his banishment."

"Inigo's counterpart was banished? Why?" Erza wondered.

"Actually, I'm curious too."

Eyes were on Knightwalker as she explained. "Well, after you all left, Jellal took power in a newly normalized world without any magic. Things were chaotic for about three months as everything settled, but once things actually did, Jellal made every one of the former Commanders of the army his personal guards and councilors, to try and keep him in check to a fault, but mostly to help with his decisions for a world he'd not been in for over ten years. Dirge and I…were rocky for a long time. I had relinquished my hatred for Fairy Tail with Scarlet, but Dirge had only grown to hate them more because of you."

"Well, I did kick his ass pretty good last time," I gloated, getting a slap to the back of the head. "I deserved that."

"As I was saying, Dirge, along with a lot of the rest of the royal army, staged a rebellion a year later. I would say that he had changed in that time, to become more power-hungry and into a mad dog…but he hadn't changed. That was the problem, and he wouldn't listen at all, not even to me, the one he claimed he would give his life for," as she went on, her voice grew more and more forceful. She was clearly resentful of him as well. "His rebellion got far, reaching the final line of defense; me."

"Did you win?" I asked.

"Am I still alive?" she countered.

"Well…yeah, but-"

"Then yes, I won. I took his eye, I guess in a kind of lesson or something for what he did to Fairy Tail, who ironically, still didn't trust me as far as they could throw me, but that's really no one's fault but my own. Afterwards, Jellal banished him and contacted other rulers or landlords, warning of him."

"Wow…"

"By the end he was nothing but a wild animal, willing to do anything to achieve his ends. I can't believe how different you are, honestly," she admitted. "And just seeing your face again…was difficult."

"I'm sorry for what happened. I wish I'd known; I would've-"

"No," she interrupted. "It was our problem, and we dealt with it just fine. It's now that's the issue, so let's focus on that."

"Knightwalker is right. We need to come up with a game plan," Erza agreed.

"Well, the first part of the plan involves getting you somewhere safe to hold up," I said.

"Inigo, I-"

"You're too injured to fight, Scarlet," Knightwalker agreed. "Asher and I can handle this."

"But you're injured too, are you not? And Inigo, what of Mirajane?"

"Mirajane is back in Earthland, and I made sure no one else will follow us here to Edolas. I can't risk more magic being available to Mystogan."

"So he can't create another disaster like last time, right."

We all sat in silence for a while, about two hours actually, with no one voicing any plans. Knightwalker finally turned to me. "You said you had theories?"

I nodded. "They're not really of use, but Mystogan never mentioned himself as the King, only referring to the title in third person. I think he's either being manipulated or he's gone insane or something."

"I hope it's the former," Knightwalker said quietly. "If it were to be incurable, then I…" she shook her head, her cheeks getting a tint of red. "N-never mind!" she quickly regained her composure. "Now then, we can still use that in some way, I'm sure."

I nodded, spotting something out of the corner of my eye. "Hey, what's that?" I said, pointing down to the building.

"What? I can't see," Erza stated, with me being reminded that she was perpetually looking either up or to the side for now.

Knightwalker looked down as I circled it. "It looks like…something."

"Wow, thanks; never would've guessed that. I meant what is it? What type of building? Can you tell?"

"Um…an inn of some kind?"

"I…guess…wanna check it out?"

"Well, I suppose they wouldn't get this far for another day or so. Fine," Knightwalker conceded as I lowered us to the ground. I picked up Erza and we went up to the door.

Knightwalker knocked on it. "Just a minute!" a bubbly voice came from behind the door, along with some clattering. Erza tensed in my arms.

"What is it?"

"That voice…" she muttered.

I nodded. "It does sound familiar…and I swear I've heard it recently. But who was it?" I wondered as the door opened slowly, revealing first her hazel eyes and then opening fully to reveal the raven herself. "Kagura?!"

The shock was enough for me to drop Erza straight onto the ground, my mouth gaping open. "Ow…" she moaned.

The woman gave me a confused glance. "Hm? I'm sorry, but I don't recall you. Oh well! It'll be a surprise for me then!" she exclaimed, her eyes showing a childlike wonder I haven't ever seen in her eyes, even when she was a child. My mouth dropped lower.

Knightwalker cleared her throat. "Anyway, is this an inn?"

"That it is! Need a room, you three?"

"Just for one night, yes," Knightwalker stated, following Edo-Kagura inside, while I was left with my jaw gaping.

"Inigo," Erza's voice snapped me out of it. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm still immobile," she stated as I picked her up.

"Oh, s-sorry, it's just…"

"Yeah…"

We followed her inside where Knightwalker started to explain the situation, with only the part about us being on the run being left out. She offered a room with two beds, which was fine for our purposes.

"And is there anyone else in the inn with us?" Knightwalker asked.

"Actually there is one other person. He's a really nice fellow too! Very wise, and has a bunch of great stories for dinner!" We nodded. "By the way you three, dinner is in thirty minutes, so be ready for it!"

"Alright, thank you," Knightwalker said as she closed the door, while I went over to one of the beds and lay Erza down onto it. Knightwalker sat on the opposite side while I sat on the end. "Scarlet, can you move at all yet?"

"I…don't know. Everything is still so numb I can hardly turn my head though."

"Listen, if I could give you magic power then I would, but I can't."

"Do you want to come to dinner or would you rather…?"

"Just bring it here. I'd rather not have the awkward explanation of why I can't eat," she stated. "Speaking of, you two should head out. It would be rude to show up late for a meal."

"But we have ten-"

"It's better to be safe than sorry," Knightwalker agreed, standing up. Sighing, I followed her out of the room, with a quick encouraging glance from Erza before we exited.

We made our way to the table, big enough for about ten people when really it was just going to be four; Knightwalker, Edo-Kagura, and I, along with this mystery fourth person. Actually, he wasn't a mystery, not anymore. Nightwalker recognized him the moment we entered.

"Lord Faust!"

 **Author's Note:**

 **So I haven't said this before, but I'm sorry I haven't been uploading at a very regular basis, or maybe you just haven't been notified of my stuff being updated. You might not know if you don't actually use the site extensively like us creators do, but there's been a glitch in the system where upload content either hasn't been going out to the readers or us creators aren't being updating on the status of our stuff being updated, so for a stretch of about a week, the view count hasn't been rising on this story or any others.**

 **To put in simpler terms, fanfiction f*cked up, and because of that, you guys probably haven't been in the loop, so sorry about that.**

 **While I love the site, I do have to deal with some of its more frustrating aspects like it's long and/or irrisponsive update system, but whatever, hope y'all are having a fantastic day!**


	42. 42 Planning the Assault

"Lord Faust!" Knightwalker exclaimed upon seeing the old man. I gave him a glance, which he returned with a tender smile. Knightwalker, strangely enough, hid behind me. "You should be far away from here by now."

"Faust?" I questioned, remembering that he was the malicious magic-stealing ruler from before. "Mystogan's father?"

"I suppose, though I don't consider myself as such," he replied. "It's good to see that you're well, Erza Knightwalker."

I nudged her to return to greeting, though she didn't; just remained silent behind me. "A-anyway," I turned back to him. "I didn't expect to see you here. I thought you'd be in the capitol controlling Mystogan if you'd be anywhere relevant."

"In the capitol? Are you insane?"

"No, but your son may well be."

"I see. Please, tell me about how things have been in my banishment," he offered the two seats across from him, with Kagura getting the end seat. I took my seat, and with a little persuasion, Knightwalker took hers as well.

I relayed the information Knightwalker had given me about the rebellion staged by Dirge and how it failed, and also about recent events, most notably Mystogan's insistence on obtaining magic once more.

"I see…that is unfortunate."

"Also, he claimed to be working for the King rather than being the King himself."

"So that's why you thought me at the capitol…well, I'll have you know that I haven't been in that city for almost eight years now."

I nodded. "Alright, that's good enough for me."

Knightwalker leaned close. "Asher, are you serious?" she whispered. "You're just going to believe him after what he's done?"

I nodded. "Alright how about this; if I ever find out that you're lying, then I'm going to personally go Dirge on your eye."

"That's fair enough," he said simply sipping on his drink. "Now, let's move on. This isn't exactly making good dinner conversation, is it?"

"I agree."

"Actually, I think it's very lucky to have run into another Earthland wizard. I may not covet it anymore, but I am curious about any interesting spells you may know, if you wouldn't mind showing me later, or even a description."

"Actually, we…we're kind of on the run," I answered with a cautious smile. "So I'd prefer not to announce our location by using bright white magic carelessly."

"That's fine then. Then how about you tell me about Fairy Tail? Have they survived?"

"Yes, they have, both Fairy Tails have, surprisingly."

"Surprisingly?"

"Well…a lot of us…almost died to a dragon around seven years ago, so…" I scratched my chin embarrassedly. "Cost us those seven years too. But whatever; no big deal."

"It's strange what magic does on the psyche. To you, seven years is gone in the blink of an eye, but to us, seven years is an eternity," Faust explained.

"Yeah, especially when you spend half of it in a hellhole…" Knightwalker mumbled.

I elbowed her. "You know, if you want to go back to the room, you can," I stated. "Don't just sit here grumbling like a child."

"Peace, friends; it's only natural for her past I'd say."

"I'm not your friend," Knightwalker stated. "You've never considered me as such and therefore I'll never consider you as such," she crossed her arms and closed her eyes, her brows knotted downwards. "All of this is your fault anyway; if you hadn't convinced us that we so desperately needed magic, then it would've just left us gradually and painlessly but instead you sewed the seed for the war on Earthland and Lord Jellal's magic crusade now," That little rant left us in silence. Knightwalker stood. "And I _will_ take my leave to the room," she turned to Edo-Kagura. "Would you mind if I brought some to our friend?" she asked as she picked up the plate, to which Edo-Kagura nodded and let her storm off.

I turned back to Faust. "I'm sorry about her."

"No, again, it's only natural, and everything that she stated was true."

"She didn't have to…have t-" something caught in my throat, seemingly nothing, as I went into a coughing fit, gagging on nothing at the end though restraining myself from throwing up what little I'd eaten so far.

And sadly, with that the mood was permanently dampened, as most of the rest of the meal was in silence save for Edo-Kagura's jubilant rumors from the nearby town, making no mention of us by the way.

When I returned to the room to sleep, Knightwalker had already lulled herself off, while Erza Scarlet, surprisingly, was sitting up. "Hey, you feeling any better?"

"I am; I suppose that a good meal was the first step in recovery."

I nodded. "Given what happened to Wendy when her magic was drained at the Grand Magic Games, I'd say you should be fine in three or so days because you have more to recover plus physical injuries."

"I agree. And what of Knightwalker? I can only guess as to her condition, but from her bandages…"

"Well, she'll be damned if she'll admit it, but she's in almost as rough of shape as you. I know for a fact that she can't fight on any form of serious level in this condition at the very least."

After the expounding, the two of us sat in silence for a moment. "…Inigo…"

"Yeah?"

"What are you going to do?"

"About what? Mystogan?"

"Yes. You know that you can't defeat the entire army."

"I know…"

"And we know now that Mystogan isn't being controlled; that this is by his own will."

"I know," I repeated.

"And if he gets his hands on you then he'll most likely have enough magic to recreate the Anima and then-"

"I know, Erza, but I'm not gonna let that happen."

"Then what are you going to do?"

"Well, the way I see it, we have four options. One; we wait for you two to recover and then attempt a sneak attack. That's out because we can't keep running like this for long if we want any hope of actually stopping him and not just running the rest of our lives. We need to stay close to the capitol and far from our pursuers. Next, I could go alone and try a sneak attack while you two hole up here. If I can sneak by the archers or maybe even get in the city the way we came out, through the sewers…no, they'll have planned for that and set some kind of trap. Alright, then we can get Edo-Fairy Tail to help us. The problem with that is that most of them don't trust any of the three of us. The Strauss sisters of Edolas do, but they might not be able to persuade the whole guild, especially given that not much is at stake for them this time around. Last time they only helped because they were in danger, not out of the goodness of their heart like we'd need to bank on this time. Finally…" I hesitated.

"Finally what?"

I shook my head. "No, that wouldn't work either."

"What is it?"

"I was going to bring our Fairy Tail over here, but there are so many things wrong with that…hardly any of us have magic, the ones who do would offer more chances for Mystogan to steal it, and not to mention that it would cause mass chaos in the city, especially if we fail and have to retreat; Mystogan will go after Edo-Fairy Tail by mistake and they won't have magic to fight back."

"It still seems like our best option," Erza claimed.

"Well…I'm still open to suggestions."

"I think we should go with your last plan. Last time, you gave us little sphere drops to eat that gave us our magic back; do you still have them?"

"I sent Mira to get them from my house, but then I closed the portal to keep magic from entering Edolas."

"Well, if we give all of Fairy Tail one of them, then we'll be fine on one of the problems of having limited magic."

I nodded. "Alright, we'll plan in the morning, once Knightwalker wakes up and gives us a layout of the city," I said as I laid down on the bed next to her. "Do you want me to move you to your counterpart's bed or…?"

"No, just so long as you don't try anything."

"Well, you claim to be an attractive woman, and I'm a guy, and you can hardly move."

"Inigo!" she snapped, her head whipping to me.

"Alright, alright; take a joke, Titania," I stated making myself comfortable and falling into sleep.

I woke, not via the kicking of Knightwalker, but rather a lurch in my stomach. I burst to my feet, my stomach twisting and turning as I rushed to the window, opening it swiftly and emptying my insides completely out into the grass. Between each convulsion was a coughing fit which gave way to the next convulsion and with each I seemed to get weaker and weaker.

Finally, after about twenty minutes going nonstop, I ceased vomiting. I took several deep breaths, hardly having enough strength to stand and for the life of me I didn't know why.

I wiped my mouth of residue and turned back to the room, seeing the two Erzas staring at me in the darkness. I was still panting. "Are you…okay?" Erza questioned.

"Yeah, it's just a little-"

"It doesn't sound like 'just a little cold', Asher," Knightwalker interrupted as she stood. "Frankly it sounds like you're seriously ill. Is this the first time it's happened?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Inigo, I'm starting to wonder how fit you are to deal with Mystogan. Perhaps we should just go get our Fairy Tail and let them-"

"No way; I'm not just going to stand off to the sidelines and let them handle this," I said back, looking to the window. "Once I get cleaned up, we can leave. Both of you get ready," I stated as I saw the sun coming up in the horizon.

Once all of us had gathered our thoughts and muscle control from sleep, we departed.

We all immediately started laying out a plan. "Alright, I propose we strike while the army is looking for us elsewhere," Knightwalker offered.

"We should bring our Fairy Tail to Edolas to aid us. Mirajane should've found the spheres that give us our magic back by now, so all we would have to do is attack," Erza added.

"I can attack the archers from afar too, get everyone past the gates. Once they're in the city we could either try to lose the guards or we could charge straight for the palace. In favor of attacking straight away?"

We all raised our hands. "After we get into the palace, the other commanders will be there to stop us."

"We'll have magic on our side though," Erza reminded. "They won't be a problem."

"With any luck, we'll have at least four of us to take on Mystogan, who will be the only person who can, in theory, pose a threat to us," I concluded. "From there, it'll be up in the air as to how things will end. Hopefully he'll be sensible and surrender, but if he doesn't…" I trailed off.

"Alright, so we have our plan."

"You mean how we just charge straight through all of the defenses?"

"Exactly. Erza, you'll have to go and get our Fairy Tail," I stated, to which she nodded without question. "You should leave as soon as possible so we can go through with this quickly and Knightwalker and I won't have to run forever."

With that logic, I landed and created a portal back to Earthland. Erza turned to me. "Inigo, promise me something."

"What?"

"Promise you won't do anything stupid?"

I chuckled. "I promise."

With a smile, she began to walk through, but then she stopped. "Wait…why doesn't Knightwalker go get our Fairy Tail? In fact, why don't we all go so we won't have to run?" she turned back. I hung my head, shrouding my eyes.

"Damn, you almost fell for it. Sorry," I pushed her through the portal and quickly closed it back up. "But I can't risk any more magic being in Edolas or anyone else being at risk," I finished to Knightwalker. "It's just us."

"Asher? What the hell was that? I thought you were friends."

"Which is why I needed to get rid of her; I don't want anyone else in danger," I stated, making another thundercloud. "Let's go. We need to finish this now."

 **Author's Note:**

 **I know some people will think that was a dick move on Inigo's part, but think of it as showing his flawed character...or maybe it was just a dick move, I don't know.**

 **Remember to review!**


	43. 43 Assault

We soon saw the capitol in view, with archers at the ready to shoot us down. I quickly made a couple of swords for me and a spear for Knightwalker, and we deflected them and passed over their heads, landing in a large crowd of people to get them to stop firing on us. I looked around, but couldn't deduce the quickest way to the palace. "Which way?" I asked her.

"This way," she tugged on my sleeve and we began to run through the street, with the army quickly regrouping and gaining on us. Not only that, but an alarm went off almost as soon as we entered which caused, at first, mass panic among the citizens and then they began clearing out of the streets, where we were left as sitting ducks.

We rounded a corner, where a wall of soldiers were waiting for us. "We need to-" Knightwalker started.

"I don't have time for you!" I yelled. "Thunder Devil's Rage!" I yelled, blasting a ten-meter-wide hole in their ranks for us to go through, bashing any guards we got close to as well. Knightwalker pulled me into an alley, where I left only rubble to block them off from us.

Once we made it far past where the archers were stationed, and we came too fast for them to keep up, I lifted us up to the walls where we were able to find our way faster.

Suddenly, inside one of the deserted guard towers, Knightwalker stopped me. "What is it?" I questioned.

"Asher…I have to tell you something…" she said slowly.

"This better not be a trap," I said immediately back. She shook her head.

"You know that we can't do this by ourselves…right?"

I stared at her, only just now realizing that she was shaking like a leaf out of sheer fear. I took a deep breath. "I…"

"We're only two people, even if you have magic. We can't beat an army," she stated.

I pulled her into a hug. "Listen, you've got to trust me. I'm not willing to give into the no-win scenario," She didn't respond as I chuckled. "You know, I think this is the first I've seen of your softer side."

With that, she pushed me off. "Oh, buzz off!"

"There's the Knightwalker I know. Come on, where's the fearless leader of the Royal Army that chased us seven years ago?"

"She died in a torture chamber over four long years," she stated somberly. "…But maybe she's just lying dormant for now," she offered.

I nodded. "Listen…if you want to retreat, you can go ahead. I'm going to find Mystogan and make him answer for what he's done, especially to you."

"But this isn't him! I know it isn't! _You_ know it isn't!" she argued.

"I have to do something though."

"…Are you…really willing to go through with killing someone you care about?"

"…"

"Because even _I_ wasn't willing to kill Dirge when the time came and I had the chance to."

"I…we'll see. Are you going to stick with me or not?"

She hesitated in her answer. "I…y-yes, I will. I'll stay with you until the end; it's the least I can do for what you've done for me," she stated, her eyes showing fear and yet her body showing a rigid courage. I nodded.

"Alright, then let's hurry to the palace."

We both broke into a run yet again, having to run twice as hard from the time we spent talking which allowed the soldiers to catch up quite a bit.

Finally we came up to the palace, but of course the doors were locked. I ended up having to blast them open to save on time and then blast them back closed to keep the army at bay for a moment. We crossed the large entry room and came to another large set of doors.

I took a deep breath. "You should hang back here," I stated.

"What? Why?"

"At least until he runs out of magic," I stated. "You're strong, but there are some walls that strength can't overcome."

She gave me a hard stare. "Any soldiers who try and interrupt you I'll stop."

"Thank you," I said as I continued forward.

Soon I came to Mystogan who was sitting on his throne, looking deprived of sleep to say the least. He was simply glaring at me. "If only you'd been cooperative, Asher. Your King is very unhappy with you."

"Mystogan, stop this. You don't have to do this," I pleaded. "This…madness can stop right now."

Mystogan took a deep breath. "Not until the King has magic to use at his whim yet again."

I raised my voice. "You're the King, Mystogan!"

"Silence!" he yelled back. "…I am no King. I have failed so many and I am becoming something which I've been trying to stop…but the King will live on," he stated as he stood.

"You're crazy."

"Yes…I am," he admitted as he drew his staves. "One Layered Magic Circle: Concussive Wind!" he yelled as it seemed gravity was taken from me. An invisible collided with me and sent me flying back into the wall. I dashed out of the way of a second-helping.

"Thunder Devil's Flash!" I yelled, sending the bolt towards him.

"Three Layered Magic Circle: Mirror Water!" he called as he sent the spells back towards me in the form of a large blue beam which I was forced to dodge. "You are far more nimble than you appear. It seems that false-warrior was weighing you down last time."

"Was that an insult?" I questioned, charging toward him. "Thunder Devil's Ravan Katana!" I yelled, forging the sword and plunging it right in front of him. "Explosive Mode!" I yelled as the sword detonated with magical energy, finally fazing Mystogan slightly.

"I see. So I hear you made S-class in Fairy Tail. That's impressive for one who can hardly keep up."

I smirked. "Pretty big talk for someone with limited assets," I stated. "I don't even need to fight back; I just have to wait for you to run out of magic and then I'll win by default."

Mystogan cracked a dry grin as he backed up to his throne. "See, that's where I underestimated Fairy Tail's wizards too. I assure you that you'll be either dead or unconscious within twenty minutes," he claimed as he sat down and hit a button on the arm rest.

The throne then receded into the wall and lowered itself. I was tempted to approach it, but then the entire room began to shake and the side that the throne used to be on was now crumbling as a giant figure rose.

Soon the entire building started to collapse, and I high-tailed it out through a hole that was forming in the ceiling. When I looked at what Mystogan had concocted, I saw a massive black figure, man-shaped, and yet almost entirely made of a metal that I doubt was on Earthland.

"I had known that Earthland wouldn't cooperate with giving me magic once I had recreated the Anima spell, so before I made the spell, I needed a way to entice fear in them. After some tweaking, I've created a larger, stronger, and better version of the Dorma Anim! It is the Sabel Anim!"

"Are you insane! You could destroy the entire city!"

"I don't care! Everyone's already been evacuated; they've been doing so since you arrived! Now I can go all out against you and _force_ you into submission!" he yelled as he swung the mecha's arm down at me, colliding with and slamming me down straight through my cloud and into the ground.

Knightwalker rushed to my side and urged me to stand as we narrowly avoided getting stepped on. Not only that, but the other Commanders of the Edolas Royal Army finally showed their face. "Erza! Don't do this!" one of them called.

"You all have to see that this is wrong!" Knightwalker countered, readying her spear.

"Prison has clouded your judgement!"

"Asher, try and distract the giant. I'll deal with these guys."

"Can you handle it by yourself?" I questioned.

She turned to me and smirked. "I'd be a pretty sorry Erza if I couldn't deal with these guys."

I nodded and we both avoided getting stepped on again, with Erza charging toward her former allies and me toward the giant robot. I took a deep breath. "Thunder Devil's Rage!" I yelled as the blast enveloped most of the mecha's torso, however, it was left unfazed.

"Hahaha! It's no use; even the mightiest of humans can't hope to defeat this piece of perfection!"

"Tch, if a human can't beat it, then how about a demon?" I questioned, rising into the air and releasing my magic power, transforming. "Demon's Echo!" I called as my skin seemed to break off into the new form. I rose up into the air, charging all of my magic into my fists. "I'm gonna blast that hunk of scrap metal into smithereens!" I yelled as I charged toward it, with it meeting my fist with its arm. The force of the blow itself managed to knock it back a few feet; not much for something that size, but still something.

"Impossible! I'm going to destroy you!"

"Hey, Mystogan! I thought you wanted my magic! Here! I'm giving it right to you!" I called as I shot wave after wave of electricity at the beast while flying circles around it. Mystogan seemed unable to hit me.

"Flash of the Demon's Echo!" I yelled, sending the more potent bolt towards the Sabel Anim, knocking it into one of the palace's towers. "You know, you're mecha is even less impressive than your petty illusions, Mystogan. At least the illusions earned you credibility," I claimed, crossing my arms in triumph, seeing the beast as too slow to be any real threat. Mystogan began laughing. "What's so funny?"

"It's nothing really; just the fact that every one of your little bolts is now powering this 'mecha'! Hahaha!"

"What?!"

"When I claimed that the Sabel Anim was superior to the Dorma Anim, I meant it! The Dorma Anim's flaw wasn't that it was weak to Slayer Magic; it's weakness was that it simply stopped at blocking magic! I've remedied that, and now every attack dealt to it using magic is only adding to its capabilities, which I believe now go something like this!" he yelled as it whirled around, faster than before, and swatted me into the adjacent tower, then attempting to crush me, though I managed to avoid it. I once again began charging up my magic.

"Fine then! I'll just have to tear it apart the old fashioned way!" I said as I cracked my knuckles. "I'm about to go Natsu on your ass, Mystogan!"

"Go ahead and try, Asher!"

I dashed through the air towards it and met its fist with mine, the shockwave being emitted from the collision that it knocked me back several meters, but I quickly recovered and repeated the motion as he did as well, with us meeting each other blow for blow. I then flew backwards, out of harm's way, to examine the damage I'd sustained.

For one, I couldn't keep up this form for much longer. Even with the incredible boost in power that it gives me, it's boost is limited and that boost was about to run out. Not only that, but, just from the force of the Sabel Anim's punches, my arms felt like complete jelly. I could barely keep up the façade of being confident in my victory from how tired I was.

"Hey, Asher."

"What?" I questioned.

"Do you want a present?"

"I don't follow."

The massive giant opened its mouth and, before I could react, a massive wave of energy was emitted from it, enveloping me and dealing massive damage. It was like the force of every single one of my attacks thus far was being redirected back at me all at once. Needless to say that it knocked me clean out of the fight; unconscious and on the ground.

Then, like a bolt of lightning, I had a vision. "What are you doing, man?" Natsu's voice entered my ears. "Hey! This is no time for napping!"

While the following dream sequence was going on, Erza had defeated the other Commanders and was confronting the Sable Anim, climbing onto its back and attempting to force her way in. Mystogan was attempting to get her off. "Knightwalker! Get off of my masterpiece!"

"My lord, please stop this!"

"I'm only doing this for the betterment of this kingdom and its rulers! I'm doing this for you!"

"But I don't _want_ magic anymore! I want a time of peace where magic isn't a factor! And if you were doing this for me, then why have me thrown in a jail cell and tortured for four years!" she countered, cutting through the joint in the neck and coming to a room-sized compartment in the torso where a human's heart would be. Mystogan met her there after realizing she was inside.

"Knightwalker…" Mystogan warned.

"My lord; I would pledge myself to you if I could, but with you like this…I couldn't bring myself to do so with a clear conscience. I have spent these past seven years wanting so badly to reconcile for everything I'd done. It is all I want from my life now, to repent for my sins against this kingdom by saving it in some way. If that must mean defeating you, even if you have magic, then I'll gladly accept the task. I'm going to free you of yourself, or die trying."

"Knightwalker; your King will not be pleased with your traitorous acts. If you continue then you will be banished."

"That's fine. I'd rather be banished then live in a world of darkness," she claimed before Mystogan charged toward her in a blind rage, however, he never made it.

"Jellal!" Faust's voice was heard from inside the Sabel Anim. "It is I, your father!"

"My King!" Jellal claimed. "Where are you? What is your bidding?"

Knightwalker took this moment of distraction to slip away from Mystogan. Faust had returned to the capitol and was looking at the Sabel Anim from one of the city's walls. "You wish to know my bidding? My final wish as a banished father? I beg of you; stop this nonsense!"

"But my lord!"

"Jellal, I am not your ruler; you are the King of Edolas. It is your responsibility to put the kingdom's needs above your own. So please, stop this pointless crusade before it completely tears apart this world! Please; do not make the same mistakes that I once made!" the old man pleaded.

"No…it can't be. No, you're lying! It can't be a mistake! The wish for magic to return to us is as innate a desire as one of Edolas could get! No, this can't be your bidding, my _King…_ that's right; you're a false King, a figment of my imagination. The real Lord Faust would stop at nothing to achieve this end! Nothing! And _I_ will stop at nothing make it so- wah! Whoa!" the entire structure shook as Knightwalker had cut the necessary wires that had been connected to the lacrima of Erza's stolen magic, causing the Sabel Anim to begin collapsing in on itself right on top of the two.

 _I was shaken awake in the guild hall, but everything was…off, like it was way too normal. Natsu was shaking me._

" _Hey, come on, fight me you jerk!" he yelled in his usual over-the-top manner._

" _Yeah right; Inigo's got bigger problems to deal with," Gray reminded as he turned to me. "Isn't that right?"_

" _W-what?" I started to question what was happening._

" _This is your chance, Inigo," next was Jellal…wait, Jellal?!_

" _What the hell are you doing in Fairy Tail?!" I questioned._

 _He ignored me. "I know that you've always wanted to…how did you put it? You wanted me to meet your fist, remember?"_

" _Igi, you shouldn't be fighting a faker like that guy," Kagura was next._

" _Besides, Mystogan is a guildmate, right?" Erza Scarlet questioned. "You two shouldn't be fighting anyway; you should be trying to find out why he's acting strange and then fix it._

" _You know; a wise man once said that you never truly understand someone_ until _you fight them," Mirajane interrupted. "But then again, I was never one to fight people anyway."_

" _Okay, now that's a definite lie," Erza stated. "Remember back then, when we used to fight all the time?"_

" _Nope, I don't recall," Mirajane stated. She turned to me. "Nakama; don't you think Erza is being silly? I mean…"_

" _It's strange what magic does to the psyche…" everything faded into nothing; black, and then Faust appeared next to me, with Mystogan standing in front of me, as I remembered him from seven years prior. "For you, seven years is gone in the blink of an eye," I blinked, and Mystogan had reverted to how he was now; his hair more disheveled than usual and with that wicked look in his eye and the sadistic grin on his face. "But for us, seven years is an eternity."_

 _Knightwalker than appeared on the other side of me. "Especially if you spend most of it in a hellhole…"_

" _I…"_

 _They both turned to me. "Well?" they both said simultaneously. "Do you under-"_

" _Stand," Mirajane's voice entered my ears._

" _W-what?"_

" _I said to stand up," everyone else from Fairy Tail then spoke as everything faded once again. This time, I was waking back up._

I woke groggily, my markings almost all the way to my neck, my Demon's Echo form gone and unusable until I'd recovered enough magic power to activate it.

I stood, and gathered everything, deducing what had happened quite quickly. I stood and made a sword, readying for anything that might come out of the rubble of the downed Sabel Anim. And what do you know; out popped Mystogan, carrying only one of his staves; the rest I could only guess had been destroyed.

He was breathing heavily, and he didn't seem to notice me for a minute. "No…I'm going to obtain infinite magic for Edolas if it's the last thing I do. Even if this Anim was destroyed, that Slayer's magic power should be enough for twenty more! So long as he's not dead then I'll be able to extract an infinite amount of magic from him, and…" he looked up at me with wicked eyes. "Why are you still standing?!" he demanded before he took in a sharp breath, with me just giving him a hard glare. "No matter; you're not even strong enough to speak, let alone fight back anymore."

"I'm not going to fight you, Mystogan," I stated finally.

"What? Then are you conceding?"

"No, I'm not. You barely have enough magic left for one attack I'd bet. You're going to attack me, and I'm going to stop it. Then I'm going to finish this," I claimed.

"Heh…haha…hahaha!" he began laughing. "Think what you will, but we both know who will come out victorious in this battle."

"Do we?" I directly challenged him, egging him on. Annoyed, he raised his staff.

"One Layered Magic Circle: Concussive Wind!" he yelled as the blast was sent toward me. While I couldn't see it, I could certainly predict it from when I got hit by it last time. I quickly switched my style to backhand and charged my sword with electricity before swinging horizontally, completely stopping the attack with a counteracting force.

Once the attack dissipated, Mystogan's last staff crumbled to pieces. I released my sword. "My turn," I stated as I gathered up my remaining magic power and condensed it into a small sphere, which I pounded between my palms to condense it even more.

"It can't be! Is that…?"

However, this time, I decided to make an alteration to the spell. I released the energy around me early before becoming one with the light to move to directly behind Mystogan before releasing it all in a sphere around both of us. "Devil Slayer's Ars Arcanum: Hell's Bounded Judgement!"

A bright flash of light engulfed the entire city, and when it faded, Jellal and I were in some kind of ethereal void of my creation, sitting back to back. The exertion of both altering and executing my version of the Fairy Law made my right arm completely useless, as if we were on Tenrou Island all over again, however, I couldn't afford to show weakness quite yet.

In my vision, I saw only white at first. When I glanced behind me, I saw only black. "Jellal," I started quietly. "What do you see?"

"What is this place?" he countered my question.

"You could consider it a judgement field. In this place, you can't lie because what you see comes directly from your heart; this _is_ what the Fairy Law spell runs on after all. This is a world where you are confronted with both your worst fears and your deepest desires; all of which you have to face head on like a true Fairy Tail wizard."

"…"

"So I ask again; what do you see?"

"I see…darkness…"

"And what do you see in the darkness?"

"I see…" he hesitated. "My father…and the Anima," he answered.

"And yet you'd still chase after both?" I questioned him, to which I got no response. I sighed. "Jellal…I've faced the darkness too; I know it all too well, having wandered in it for so long…in fact, I've still more darkness to face in the future. However, for now, I'm choosing to bathe in the light while I can," I explained.

"What are you trying to tell me?"

"I'm not telling you anything," I turned my head to him, and him to me. "This is your own mind and your own heart that you can't lie to," I stated as I turned back. "Jellal, face the light, after seven long years of being trapped."

He reluctantly turned to sit side-by-side with me.

"What do you see? I see a guild hall with the smiling faces of my friends; I see the face of an angel with flowing white, all of them reaching towards me with open arms."

"I see…"

"You see…" I urged him on.

"…Red…"

I frowned. "Blood, then?" I questioned, worried for a moment.

He shook his head and smiled. "No…hair."

I chuckled. "Then go to her; she's been waiting for four years, King Jellal," I stated, pushing him to his feet while I stayed on the ground, with me releasing the field as the two walked toward each other.

The crumble of the Sabel Anim had cost Knightwalker the use of one of her arms, but she stood looking ready for battle, though I could tell that Jellal was done fighting.

"I…" Mystogan struggled to find the words. "I…I'm sorry…for everything. I know that that's not enough, but I-"

"My lord, please…" Knightwalker stopped him. "Those are the only words I've wanted to hear for four years," she stated with a smile. Mystogan smiled as well.

"Thank you, Erza Knightwalker," the two embraced. As they did, I sighed and plopped backwards onto my back, using my good arm as a headrest.

"It's about time…" I stated with a smile.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'll give you two this; you sealed the deal faster than our Erza and Jellal," I explained as they both blushed.

However, it seemed that my relaxation after the battle was short-lived as a massive explosion erupted in the palace wall, and one of the bricks, as I bolted up, smashed into my forehead, revealing a certain pink-haired Dragon Slayer who had come to the "rescue."

"Don't worry, Ash! Now you've got Fairy Tail covering you!" he yelled before he saw the damage that the building had already sustained.

I grumbled to myself. "Natsu…" I growled, rubbing my forehead as it was still stinging. "Wait, Natsu? How'd you get here?"

"How? Mira copied that Anima spell you left on the bar; we've brought all of Fairy Tail and she found the things that gave us our magic in this world so we can help you."

"Wait, so you mean that…"I grimaced. "Oh gods…" I moaned as I stood, readying to run.

"Inigo Asher, you selfish bastard!" the She-Devil's voice was heard through the crowd of wizards that were trying to make their way through the hole that Natsu had made, though Mirajane just blasted her way through it. I then bolted, jumping on a thundercloud as Mirajane followed me in her Satan Soul form. "Don't you run away from me! Everything you're gonna get, you deserve!

"But it wasn't my fault!" I yelled back.

"Then whose fault was it?!" she questioned as she sent a blast toward me, which knocked me out of the sky and back to where I took off from. I then had a sword to my neck as Titania joined the "beat-up-Inigo-fiesta" as she backed me up to a wall where both her and the She-Devil released their magic.

"H-hey, come on. I mean, everything turned out okay, right?"

"Inigo, this is what happens when you get lucky. What's about to happen is what happens when you're an idiot and you get lucky. And by 'what's about to happen' I mean we're going to kick the shit out of you," Erza stated as she reared back her sword and Mirajane her claws, though they both stopped when they heard the laughter of our guildmates. Erza lowered her sword and Mirajane reverted to her normal form. "You know; you're lucky I'm still injured," Erza stated coldly as she walked away, angry yes, but it would pass by.

I turned to Mirajane as I stood. "Mira," I started, though she turned away. "Mirajane….hey, if I kiss you right now, will you forgive me?"

She turned toward me then, waiting a moment to answer. "…Make it good."

I smirked and pulled her in close. "Pay close attention, Mystogan and Knightwalker; this is how you show affection," I stated before I enjoyed a long and passionate kiss with Mirajane, so relieved that this whole Edolas ordeal was over.

"Alright! Then it must be time to party!"

No, no it wasn't time to party, at least not for me; I'd had enough of Edolas for a while thank you. If I wanted to party in Edolas, I'd go and do it some other time.

I turned out to be the only one who didn't want to "party" so I went back alone.

I arrived back in Earthland in the forest outside Magnolia to an unwanted welcome.

"Hello, Brother," his stone-cold voice entered my ears, instantly sending a flood of memories in my mind as fast as goosebumps went up my arms. I whirled around to face him.

"What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean? We are Sworn Brothers, are we not?"

"Not anymore," I stated, glaring at the man, if you could call him that, in front of me. "I thought I left you mortally wounded in the middle of a forest outside Rosemary Village?"

"You did, along with four others of my kind."

"Then tell me what you were thinking when you decided to meet with me again? Did my message not get through that thick head of yours the first time, Mard Geer?"

The Etherius simply stared back at me for a moment before answering. He sighed. "I'd hoped we could put that behind us."

"Threatening the lives of hundreds of people, including the only family I'd had to call my own, isn't something that I can put behind me very easily."

"You mean like that Jellal?" Mard retorted.

"Yeah, and guess how long that took; over ten years from when Simon was pronounced dead."

Mard sighed once again. "In any case, I came because I'd heard you were feeling ill, among…other things," he noted my injuries.

"If you think that you can take advantage of my condition to-"

"Must you be so simple-minded in your thinking?" Mard interrupted. "Unlike you, I have grown since we last met, and my plans have grown much larger than last time."

"I'd let your little Dark Guild Tartarus go about its business so long as it didn't endanger my family and I plan to stick to that because we were once considered brothers. But if you so much as look at Fairy Tail wrong, I'm going to _personally_ end you."

Mard cracked a dry smile; a rare sight. "Oh trust me, my plans don't involve Fairy Tail. Unless they deliberately get in my way, then they'll be left completely unharmed."

"If that's the case, then get out of here and don't speak to me ever again," I ordered. He simply stared at me. "Now!" I yelled, unleashing a bit of my magic which made him flinch from the presence of it.

"Fine, but don't call me ungrateful for never visiting _family_ , Asher."

With that, the Etherius walked off into the woods, leaving me with only one thought crossing my mind.

"Mard Geer isn't the inner demon that Zeref was talking about…right?"

 **Author's Note:**

 **In celebration of, as of posting, over 7000 views, here's the final part of my two original arcs. From here, it's the Eclipse Celestial Spirit arc! Yay!**

 **Don't forget to review!**


	44. 44 Disasters

Weeks have passed since everyone returned from Fairy Tail, and to be honest, not much of anything has happened in that time unless you count me vomiting a whole lot more than before and the fact that my arm hasn't healed yet, which, admittedly, worried me to no end.

"I mean, what if I never get it back?" I asked Mira one day.

"Oh well," she shrugged it off as if it were nothing. "Just make sure your lips are functioning, and then I have all I need from you."

I sweat-dropped. "Um, thanks, Mira…"

She offered a sweet smile. "Anytime, nakama."

Anyway, I walked into the guild one day to find absolutely no one there. "Hm, wonder where everyone is," I muttered to myself, shuffling over to the job request board, seeing only a few requests. "Weird, normally we get tons of jobs, especially since the Grand Magic Games…"

"It's because everyone has taken them already," Mira stated, form behind the bar counter.

"Any idea what got into everyone? Normally everyone here is too lazy to get a job."

"It's because weird things have been happening," she stated. "Like weird unnatural droughts, which Gray and Juvia went to fix, or," she showed me a request. "Strange, never-ending thunderstorms."

"That one should be fine," I stated as I reached for it, but she pulled it away.

"Oh no you don't. Tell me, what's your record for not puking lately?" she questioned. I rubbed the back of my neck.

"About…forty minutes..." I admitted.

"Inigo, I'm worried about you. You're only getting worse and worse; you shouldn't be coming to the guild like this as is."

Mira then handed the job to someone else; Laxus. "Don't worry, Cloud Nine, let your senior S-class handle this one," he offered, sporting a confident grin.

I sighed, plopping onto a seat and resting my head on the bar. "Whatever," I conceded before he and the Thunder God Tribe left. "This sucks."

"It's your own fault for getting sick," she said with another shrug. "Just don't die on me."

I gave her a lazy thumbs-up. "Promise," I said, monotone, before sighing again. "I just wish I could do something useful."

"Getting healthy again is entirely useful."

I waved that off, getting sick of just "getting better," no pun intended. "I'd rather be getting a face-full of metal from the Sabel Anim again than be stuck here doing nothing."

Mirajane patted my shoulder. "I'm sure you'll be back on your feet in no time."

"Yeah, and then I can kick your ass!" Natsu stated as he appeared out of nowhere, making me instinctively jump onto a thundercloud above them, making Mira and Lucy stifle a laugh.

" _Please_ don't make me more likely to vomit," I pleaded as I lowered myself again, already feeling my stomach lurch. "Speaking of," I burst from the cloud and to the trash, where I emptied my breakfast into it. I wiped my mouth and looked.

"Bloody again?" Mira asked. I nodded silently as I returned to the group, not wanting to talk about it. "Be sure to tell Porlyusica that when she comes by. It's probably because you've been coughing so much again."

Yeah, it's gotten so bad that Makarov convinced Fairy Tail's personal apothecary to check on me daily.

Lucy looked a bit grossed out. "B-bloody vomit?"

"Yeah…" I turned away, disgusted myself. "Anyway, why aren't you guys out on a job?"

"Because we just got back from one!" Happy announced while sitting on top of my head.

"Well, I'm afraid there aren't many opportunities right at this moment. Most of the jobs are taken, but lucky for you, Lucy, there's one specifically requesting a Celestial Spirit Wizard," she handed the girl the paper.

"Really, just for me?" she took the piece of paper and read over it. "Hey, Natsu, are you up for this?"

'Sure! Anything to get away from Mr. Sickly over there," he grinned as he pointed at me.

"Yeah, whatever Mr. Brick For Brains. Just get out of here, would you?"

With that, the group then left as quickly as they'd come, leaving Mira and I to talk, or rather us waiting for when next I would puke, for the next couple of hours. However, then we got an unexpected visitor.

Mirajane looked past me during our conversation, to the entrance. "Yukino?" she inquired as I looked behind us, seeing the member of Sabertooth walking toward us. "What brings you to Fairy Tail?" the older girl asked with a smile.

"Nothing good, I'm afraid. Tell me, is Lucy Heartfilia here?"

"She just left a couple hours ago on a job requiring a Celestial Spirit Wizard."

"You should probably tell her to come back," Yukino stated.

"Why?"

"Because Golden Celestial Keys aren't working. The Golden Spirits aren't responding to my summons, and I suspect they won't respond to her either," she explained.

"That's strange alright," Mira turned to me. "Can you contact them?"

"It'll take a few minutes since I don't already have a link with them. Where's Warren when you need him?" I complained as I started to concentrate, soon finding Natsu to speak with him.

" _Loke, you bastard!"_ I heard him yell, making me rear back, suddenly getting a headache.

"Gah!" I held my head as the girls tried to offer comfort. "He's _so_ loud! Natsu," I tried talking to him.

" _Cloud Nine? Wha-"_ I heard a crash on the other end.

"Natsu, you guys need to come back. Something bad is going on."

" _Tell me about it, Loke is being a gigantic-"_

"It's more than a friend acting like a dick, Natsu."

" _Inigo?_ " Lucy was soon connected. " _What's going on? My spirits keep spouting something about a rebellion and freedom!"_ she cried.

"Lucy? Hey, calm down; you guys need to come back. Yukino's here right now and she can't summon her Golden Spirits either."

" _Alright, we'll try._ "

I nodded and relayed the message to the others, with us simply waiting for Lucy and Natsu to return, which they did with both looking quite troubled.

"What happened?"

"That Loke bastard is saying he doesn't remember us! That's what!" Natsu claimed, pounding his fists together.

"Lucy, are you having the same problem that I am?" Yukino questioned. "I've tried all of my Golden Keys, but none of them work."

"Same here. It turns out the job was a trap, an announcement by the Golden Celestial Spirits declaring themselves as rebelling against us humans."

"But…what could've caused it?"

None of us could think of any reason. Lucy then brightened up. "Oh! I can try some of my Silver Keys and see if they work!"

"And you didn't think of that before?" I muttered as she fished through them, finally summoning an old, beat up…thing, aided by a walking, talking grandfather clock.

"Crux, can you please tell us what's wrong? Why are you so beat up, and why did Horologium come with you?"

"I'm afraid that I lack the power to travel to and from at this point. It is terrible in the Celestial Spirit World, Lucy. The Celestial Spirit King has gone missing, and the twelve Gate Keys have rebelled in their absence. They refuse anyone free passage through the dimensions and they torture us to no end. They keep spouting something about Liberum, but I'm afraid that's all I know, Ms. Lucy."

"It's alright Crux, that's a lot more than we had to work off of before."

Crux then started to glow and then disappeared, but the clock stayed.

Suddenly, Yukino produced a book which she placed on the counter. "Here. I found this in Sabertooth's library on the subject, but I couldn't decipher it," Levy had since returned and taken interest in the book, opening it and beginning to read through it. "Will she be able to read it?"

"If she can't then I think we're out of luck," Lucy claimed.

We waited, for several minutes, before she finally sighed. "It's all gibberish to me…"

Everyone face-palmed, except for me. I opted instead to shift the book over to me and begin reading it. "I'd imagine it is," everyone turned to me. "Because it's a grimoire."

"A grimoire?"

"They're books that are meant to teach Black Magic; it's how I learned my magic. Not to brag, but I've gotten pretty good at reading them. I pointed to one of the symbols that acted as characters in the book. "See, like this one means 'planet'."

"So instead of words they use drawings?"

"Yeah, pretty much. They tend to differ slightly from book to book, but they're…generally the same."

"Well, if you can decipher that, what do we do?"

"I don't know, find more?" I offered.

"Where?"

"Where's the biggest library in Fiore?" I offered once again. Yukino, Levy, and Lucy looked at each other, and all three then took off without saying another word. "Natsu, you should probably go with them, just in ca-" he had disappeared along with Lucy's clock spirit. I sighed. "Always trying to be the hero…"

"Sounds familiar," Mirajane chuckled. "Do you want help reading that grimoire?"

"No thanks, I've got it," I stated, beginning to delve into it.

And so I read and read and copied down into English the entire grimoire as I read it. Most of it was completely useless, though I did find one god piece of information early on, relaying that Lucy's group should be trying to find something called the mystical globe.

"Oh gods…" I mumbled as I read the final passage.

"What?"

"If…the spirits do their Liberum ritual, then…they'll only keep living for twelve days."


	45. 45 Battle

"Are you serious?" Mirajane asked. "You're not just pulling my string, right?"

"No, this is serious. Twelve after the Liberum is done, then they'll all die, forever. They won't just go back to the Spirit World."

"That's…"

I stood. "We need to warn them, and do what we can to stop them."

"Oh no you don't," Mira pushed me back into my seat. "You shouldn't be moving as it is!"

I continued resisting. "But I need to do _something_ , anything!"

We both stood there, with me trying to stand and Mira holding me down, before we heard a clearing of the throat. We both turned toward the entrance and quickly stopped fighting. "Um…Princess," Mirajane addressed her. She gave a slight nod as she was accompanied to the bar with that Arcadios character.

"Hello, is Lucy here?"

"Um…no, why?"

The Princess pulled out a case and opened it, revealing twelve keys, vaguely resembling the golden keys. "I'd heard about trouble in the Celestial Spirit World, and I fear it was the negative magic energy from the Eclipse Gate that is causing this. I felt it was right to at least give you an advantage to fix this problem."

"Then you know what's wrong?"

"The Eclipse Gate was forced closed via the Golden Celestial Spirits, and the negative energy must have affected them. Because they refuse to go back into the Spirit World and remain obedient to its laws, I've created these keys to force them to."

"Then…you want us to force closed their gates, thereby purifying them?" I clarified.

"That's the idea, yes."

I nodded, and was about to speak, had there not been a large rumbling before Natsu and the girls ran into the building, with a gigantic shark following behind, along with a fishman on top of it, who literally ran into the Princess and made her drop the keys, which the fishman picked up.

"Good, didn't even have to fight you jerks to get this!" the fishman claimed as they departed.

"No, the keys!" The Princess started to run after them, but Arcadios stopped her, letting them waltz off until we couldn't see them anymore. "Arcadios, let me go!"

"Be at peace, Princess; those weren't the real keys," he whispered so as to not let anyone else hear before pulling out an identical case. "These are. Trust me, I'd planned for such a move."

"Great, and I know where they'll be performing the ritual, so we can stop them."

"We should head out now, they'll want to start as soon as possible!" Lucy claimed, to which we all nodded and started heading out, though Mirajane held me back.

"Listen, Mira, I know what you're going to say and I-"

"No, you don't," she stated. "I was going to ask you to come with us, and contact the other people in Fairy Tail to have them come help."

"O-oh," the request took me aback. "So…you're not going to try and stop me from fighting?"

She smiled and planted her lips onto mine before we both walked out after the others.

And so all headed to where the Spirits were to perform the Astral Spirytus, and I was successful in contacting everyone and where having them converge on my position.

Once we arrived, the Spirits were already midway through the ritual, but because of us, they had to stop. "Loke, bastard!" Natsu yelled as we approached.

"Oh, it's you again, filthy human," a spirit in shining golden armor looked down on us, along with all of the others.

"I've only seen a couple spirits, what are all of their names?" I asked.

Lucy pointed to each one in turn. "Aquarius, Virgo, Taurus, Capricorn, Sagittarius, Gemini, Libra, Pisces, Aries, Cancer, Scorpio," she finished on the man in the golden armor. "And that's Leo, their leader and the strongest Celestial Spirit."

"Got it."

Mirajane leaned over to me. "When will the others get here?"

"In a few minutes," I whispered back before stepping forward. "What do you all think you're doing?"

"Oh? You're a new meat bag," Leo commented.

"Don't you know that you'll die twelve days after this is over? You want freedom, right? What kind of freedom is that?"

"Trust us, we know; we simply don't care. Anything necessary to achieve our perfect freedom will be done. And now that we have your new keys, you can't even try and stop us."

"Except for the fact that fishboy over there went and stole keys as useless as the one to my house, not the real set," I stated, visibly angering Leo, who held his hand out like some kind of king.

"Kill them! All of them!"

I leapt back, feeling adrenaline kick in and, thankfully, partially negating the effects of my illness as I summoned one of my swords and deflected a couple of Sagittarius' arrows, the others soon joining the fray as I was pitted against both said horseman and Aquarius.

Aquarius shot small bullets of water with incredible accuracy, straight at my face no less, which I had to individually zap apart, though in doing that I gave ground to Sagittarius and was eventually backed up to Mira, who was dealing with Scorpio and Taurus. "Any ideas?" I wondered.

"Hit them harder," she offered.

I sweat-dropped. "I haven't even hit them yet…"

"Then get closer," she offered again as she dashed forward towards her opponents. I followed her example as burst into a sprint, leaping over both of their attacks and stabbing my sword into Aquarius' water jug, plugging it for now, before turning my attention to Sagittarius. It seems that I was too late however, as he just ran me over and then shoved me into a wall.

I began coughing, struggling to stand already. Both of my opponents were standing over me, one looking menacing and the other…also looking menacing because I ruined her fun.

However, neither of them got their attacks to land as I heard a familiar chant. "Ice Make: Shield!" a layer of thick ice surrounded me, blocking their attacks.

"Water Slicer!" was called next and that forced the spirits away from me before Gray and Juvia rushed to my side.

"Been a while since you've been in action, Cloud Nine. Getting rusty?" he mocked as I stood.

"Outa the way, Ice Bucket!" I snapped as I dashed in front of them. "Thunder Devil's Rage!" I called as the beam came out of my mouth, knocking both of the spirits away, one of them straight into Leo, who was fighting Natsu.

Soon, all of the prominent Fairy Tail members arrived, and the Spirits were backed into a corner. In desperation, Leo let out a dazzling black light and when everything cleared up, twelve portals were there.

"You filthy mongrels may have won the battle, but the war is far from over! You only won because of sheer numbers, come inside and we'll show you exactly how powerful us Spirits are!"

Natsu started to charge into the one designated with Leo's symbol. "Wait a sec, flame brain."

The Princess stepped forward with the real set of keys, and handed everyone one of them except for me. Mira got Pisces and asked for my help with them, that's why, so it didn't really bother me.

With that, everyone stepped into their gates and began the final battle with the Celestial Spirits.

Mira and I arrived in possibly the most horrid place on any planet; a beach. Just the sight of the water, made me hurl off to the side. Mira patted my back and laughed nervously. "Hey, come on, nakama, it could be worse."

"How? What could be worse than this hell-hole?!" I questioned.

"Come on, nakama, on your feet," she pulled me to a standing position again. "We've got bigger fish to fry."

I nodded slowly and was going to let her lead me down the beach, before she was dragged away from me.

I reached forward, but she was soon dragged off into the ocean. I ran to the water's edge, but then my stomach gave way again, though by this point I had nothing to throw up, so it was just uncomfortable.

I jumped onto a thundercloud and flew a little bit out, just barely seeing some magic happening beneath the waves, so they weren't straight up try to drown her.

While I saw Mira being overpowered, she hadn't gone into her Satan Soul yet, so I let the scene play out for a moment.

After a while, I checked an imaginary watch. "Jeez, how long is this going to take?" I wondered before I finally saw Mira go into her Satan Soul form, and I took action, building up magic power, much like, of all people, Azuma did before a big attack. "Devil Slayer's Ars Arcanum: Hell's Burst!" I yelled before I extended my hands out and a circle of my magic formed around me, soon shooting out both up and down, straight into the sky, where the sky literally cracked open, and then also into the water, parting it long enough for Mira to finish off Pisces on her own.

Once she used her key to send them away, I landed back on the beach, and sat down next to her.

We didn't speak for a long time, and I have no idea why, but suddenly an idea popped into my head. "We should go on a vacation."

She turned to me. "You tried that before, remember? Look what happened." she poked my bad arm, which at this point was just numb.

"I mean in Earthland," I clarified. "Just you and me."

"Well, where do you want to go?"

"I haven't thought of that yet. Maybe one of the neighboring countries, or maybe a nice mountain spring where we can just be alone."

She nodded. "And what brought this on?"

I shrugged. "It's just…"

" _The fear of Zeref announcing my death,"_ I thought. " _That's also why I wanted to go relax in Edolas."_

"I don't think we've been spending enough time with each other, alone where we can just…talk and relax, and…maybe something more."

She gave a warm smile and leaned into me. "Nakama, I'll do anything for you," she stated before she kissed. "To be honest, I'm getting a little weary of the constant fighting in the guild anyway. A break would be good."

"Alright, then it's settled; after this is over, we're going to take a break from Fairy Tail," I stated as I stood.

"Where're you going?"

I cracked my neck. "I'm going to make this fight 'over' faster," I stated.

"…I think this is a bad idea."

"So do I, but I'm still going to do it."

"Then be careful, and don't do anything reckless."

I grinned sheepishly. "That's not exactly my strong suit," I said before taking off toward the new hole in the sky, where I already heard the sounds of Leo and Natsu's fight.

 **Author's Note:**

 **I think this is the first time I've used a title as generic as 'Battle', and I promise it'll be the last. Anyway, sorry about no author's note last time, but, as you can see, this arc is going to be really short. It was short in the show, but it was prolonged because of the individual fights with each of the thirteen spirits having its own episode...ugh...**

 **Anyway, this story is coming to a close pretty soon, ten or so more chapter should be good...maybe...anyway, because of that, reviews would be very much appreciated.**

 **Other than that, I'll see you guys in the next chapter!**


	46. 46 Memento Mori

As I flew through the new dimension, I heard Leo and Natsu talking. "…and it also appears that your flames can…run out, hahaha!" Leo mocked Natsu.

"Then…what are you saying? That the darkness is never-ending?" Natsu questioned. As they continued, I spotted both of them, with Natsu not looking too good.

"That's right, it'll never end. So long as light exists in this world, then darkness will also be there. And so long as I am here, then the darkness will continue to swell and grow, until it completely overtakes the light!" Leo claimed before holding his hand out. "Purge of Darkness!"

A potent stream of dark flames burst from Leo's hand and smashed Natsu into a boulder behind him, not ending but instead continuing to brutalize him. I burst into a dive and sliced right through the attack, white lightning spiraling around me as I landed, glaring at Leo.

"Then I suppose I'll have to be here to tip the odds back in light's favor," I stated as Natsu fell behind me. "Take a breather, flame brain."

"Ah, the new meat bag," Leo acknowledged me. "I'd thought no one could cut through my magic."

"Yeah well, I have a lot of surprises up my sleeve, Leo," I stated. "Tell you what; I won't have to show them to you if you call off the Liberum ritual."

"You must be joking! The Liberum will give us our freedom, our future!"

"This perfect freedom you want is just a petty fantasy, Leo!" I snapped back.

"W-wha-"

I stepped forward, a circle of white slowly spreading out from each step. "Do you want the truth? None of us are free. We're all bound by our values and our choices. Unless you're a child with nothing but what you do in this moment, you aren't free; we're slaves to our pasts," I then met him and made him step back. "So remember this when you're back in 'captivity' and in a contract with Lucy Heartfilia; this pointless crusade against us humans is the biggest mistake you're ever going to make. Not only because I'm about to completely dominate you, but also because it was entirely pointless in the first place."

"You…mongrel…" Leo's shocked stare turned into a piercing stare as his magic was released as well. Our magics met, light and darkness vying for control. "I'm going to kill every last one of you…" he vowed.

"I'd like to see you try."

We both leapt back and then dashed forward again, our fists colliding, sending out a blinding spiral of black and white. "Thunder Devil's Flash!" I yelled before the bolt flew out of my fist.

"Purge of Darkness!"

The beams collided, and we both charged straight into the center, meeting each other in a flurry of attacks. I then ducked under a jab at my face and brought my fist up. "Zeus's Wrath!" I yelled as the attack sent Leo flying away.

"You know nothing!" he claimed as he attacked once again, knocking me back with incredible force, though I caught myself on a thundercloud. "You haven't had to spend your entire life as a slave to ones beneath you!"

"I know what it's like to feel alone, Leo, and that's a hell of a lot worse than having dozens of friends by your side!"

"Shut up! Roar of Darkness!" he yelled as he shot the blast point blank, blasting me away into a faraway boulder. Leo then came up and punched me further into the boulder, sending my stomach reeling. "Hammer of Darkness!" he yelled as he imbued his fist with darkness and shot it toward me.

"Devil Slayer's Ars Arcanum: Satanic Barrier!" I yelled, holding my hand out and making a copy of Gray's Shield Spell, stopping Leo's attack from connecting and giving me time to escape his next.

I landed back near Natsu and began coughing, my stomach still reeling from two successive impacts. "Oi, Cloud Nine, this is my fight," Natsu struggled out. "Loke is mine…"

"Does it look like I care?" I said back as we both stood. "Let's take him together. He certainly lives up to being the king of the Celestial Spirits."

"He ain't king, he's just their leader."

"Whatever," I stated as Leo landed.

"Bastard…you stole my flames and you're gonna make Lucy cry? You're not the Loke I know," Natsu stated.

"He stole your flames?" I asked as the wheels in my head started turning. "Hey, Natsu…I'm not the only one who's hungry, am I?"

He quickly caught on and smirked. "Now that you mention it, I'm starving."

"Tch, you humans are so broken that you're bordering on insanity," Leo stated. "Purge of Darkness!"

Natsu and I both sucked in. Natsu took the flames, I took the darkness, and we both got back to normal strength, except for the fact that I was now barely conscious. I don't know what it was, but it seemed that the darkness didn't exactly mix well.

Even still, Natsu and I both sprang into action. I leapt above him, charging my one hand with the two different magics and held it down. "Devil Slayer Secret Art: Split Heaven!" I yelled as I shot down a ray of white lightning in a wide radius onto Leo.

"Exploding Flame Blade of Darkness!" Natsu called as the massive beam shot toward the Celestial Spirit, sending him colliding with a boulder, but he wasn't done. Natsu dashed forward, and once I landed, I fell into step with him, both of us leaping up and both shooting one last attack.

"Brilliant Flash of the Thunder Flame Devil Dragon!" we both yelled as the attack collided with Leo, sending a blinding array of colors, from black and white, to red and gold, until everything cleared up.

Natsu took action quickly, pulling out his key and tapping Leo with it, the Celestial Spirit vanishing into the spirit world, before he jumped up in triumph. "Yes! We kicked ass, Ash!"

I didn't respond, but instead fell to my knees, black dots clouding my vison before I fell to the ground with a thud, slipping into the longest sleep I'd ever have.

I woke up to black, everything seeming surreal as I couldn't remember much of anything that'd happened. Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of me. "Hello, Brother," he greeted unenthusiastically.

"You're…" I held my head. "Mard…Geer?"

"Good, you still remember me, though not for long I'd say."

"What are you…where am I?"

"I see you still haven't exactly pieced it together yet. Plus you've gone a messed up my entire agenda by pulling that little 'eating darkness' stunt earlier. Oh well, it can't be helped, and besides, it just means things will move a long a bit faster than I'd expected."

"W-what are you…"

"Memento Mori."

"W-wha-"

"It is the ultimate curse, so powerful that, if I don't wish to use it in my Etherius form, I must build it's power from the ground up, and I happened to build it inside of you until I require it, but by then you should be dead, so it really doesn't matter."

"B-but…it's a curse, right?"

"Very perceptive, brother. You may be immune to the physical effects of curses via demons, but everyone is susceptible to sickness, which is how I implanted it within you. I was extremely lucky too, I was beginning to think you would never remember me. But at that one moment, my memento to you, the memories of me, surfaced. I needed that memento to plant this within you."

"One moment…" I thought back, finally piecing it together. _"I'm a Devil Slayer; it's my duty to chase after things that give off that kind of dark magic. Zeref's magic power is so similar to Mard…n-never mind. That's a memory not worth resurfacing,"_ I had said at that 'one moment' during my dialogue with Mavis after the Grand Ball.

"I suppose you're wondering why. Why are you doing this? And what oh what will happen to me before I die? Well, as for why, I need you out of the way while my plans go into motion. You, brother, are the only person in this entire world that can conceivably stop me, for now anyway. I'm going to completely wipe out any threat to us, including Zeref…and then we're going to kill everyone. As for what will happen to you, you're going to drown in your worst nightmares, living through the days when you trudged in the darkness endlessly, never finding a moment's reprieve."

"I…" my consciousness once again started to fade as Mard flashed a wicked grin. "B-Brother…"

As I lost consciousness, it was as if all of my memories were taken away, all of Fairy tail, of Mirajane, or anything else after I left my village that day.

It was just…new again.

"Where are you going, Inigo?" the little Kagura questioned as I slung my backpack across my back.

"I'm off on an adventure. I'm going to find whoever hurt us, and stop them from hurting anyone else," I promised, kneeling down a bit, though I didn't have to much; at this point, Kagura was about twelve, while I was fourteen or fifteen; I can't remember which.

"When will you be back?"

I shrugged. "Not sure, and while I'm gone, the town and our house will be vulnerable, so I'll need you to stay on your toes, and get really strong for me. To protect it while I'm gone, alright?"

"Got it," she said confidently. I reached behind my back and unhooked my sword in its sheathe handing it to her.

"By only the most dire of circumstances should you use this unsheathed, understood?" I asked.

"But…Inigo, that's your family's sword," she reminded me.

I chuckled. "I know, but it would be better off in your hands; hands far more capable than mine" I said as I stood straighter, and turning away. "Use it to protect; not to destroy. Use it as my legacy, which I entrust to you, Kagura Mikazuchi."

"Well, then I'll always be watching over you!" she yelled after me. When I turned around, I saw her extending her pointer finger and thumb in a triumphant manner. "Always; no matter how far away you are!"

"You're not a part of Fairy Tail," I stated.

"So?"

"That's a Fairy Tail symbol, Kagura," I reminded her.

"It can be used for anyone!" she retorted as I waved her off.

That was the last time I've spoken to her.

But even though, as Mard Geer said, this was the start of the darkest days of my life, even if I was never given reprieve, and even though in the end everything felt wrong…those were the happiest days of my life.

 **Author's Note:**

 **Oh how I'm sure I lost loyal readers because of this chapter. Yes, this is most likely going to split the reader-base in two over whether this decision was good or bad, but hey, I'm not trying to retell the story of Fairy Tail here...well I am, but I don't have to follow it point for point.**

 **Spoiler alert; I'm skipping ahead to the Tartarus arc after this; assume everything in the Succubus Eyes arc happened as per the canon story, okay? Okay.**

 **Anyway, please do tell me what you thought of this chapter and of how I manage to tie my OC, rather selfishly in my opinion, to two major villains in the Fairy Tail universe. I look forward to reading them. ;P**


	47. 47 Etherius

I was panting, my entire body shaking from the pain of fatigue.

I readied myself against the inevitable onslaught of the Gorians as they surrounded me, but as they looked ready to charge and destroy me, they all stopped dead, literally.

Actually, as I looked, I saw that several thorns wrapped around them and dug into their skin until they fell to the ground dead, revealing a man behind them who retracted the thorns shortly thereafter.

I stood staring at him for a moment, and him to me. "Well?" he said finally. "Are you just going to stand there?"

I shook my head, trying to regain control of the situation, readying myself for the man to attack. "You looking for a fight?" I questioned.

The man waved off the threat. "With you? As if you're worth my time," he said cockily.

"Then…you just came to help me?"

"Do not mistake my actions for kindness, human. Once I no longer require your help, then you'll die."

"Human? What? Are you like those other monsters?" I questioned, already getting a bad feeling about this guy.

"No, I'm not like those simpletons."

"Then…why did you help me?"

"Because I sensed an unusual strength coming from this area. It obviously wasn't you, seeing as you couldn't even handle a few Gorians."

I stood straighter. "So that's what they were…Gorians…hey, sir, if you can show me around here a little, I'd be happy to help with whatever you want," I offered as I contained my magic. I walked up to the man and held out my hand. "You seem like you know about this place, so I figured I might as well take advantage; the name's Inigo by the way. Inigo Asher."

After a second's hesitation, the man shook my hand. "Mard Geer," he stated. "I suppose this makes us…temporary partners."

We began walking toward the nearest town to rest up. "Yeah, and speaking of, what'd you need help with?"

"That depends; are you afraid of what you would call a ghost story?"

"No, I'm not."

"Then allow me to share one, in a sense. I had only just recently gotten a hold of where I was as I felt your power. I remember almost everything about this world except for myself. I know what I am, and what I can do, but not why I am."

"Okay, what are you? You look pretty human to me."

"I am an Etherius. In human terms, I'm what you would call a demon."

I stopped dead. "A demon? I thought they'd all disappeared with the Devil Slayer Magic."

"Devil Slayer Magic?" Mard Geer seemed equally as confused.

"It's a Lost magic, and the one that I use. As far as I know, I'm the only Devil Slayer Wizard in the world."

"And as far as I know, I'm the only demon awake in the world."

We stood staring at each other for a moment, both contemplating whether we should attack each other or just shrug it off. I decided on the latter. "Alright, moving on, if you'd finish your 'ghost story'."

Mard Geer cleared his throat. "Yes, well, I regained consciousness with only one word in my mind; die. I assume that that means I must die, and your power may be an easy solution to that."

"What? Whoa there, Mard, I just met you; I'm not gonna just kill you for no good reason."

"There is a good reason; because I told you to. If you truly use Devil Slayer Magic then yours would be the quickest death."

I lowered my eyelids halfway. "'Because I told you to' is not a good reason, man. You could at least wait a week or something to see if some of your memories come back."

"…I…suppose I could wait a few days," Mard Geer conceded as we entered town.

"Please, sirs…" a small voice was heard from the side of the road. When we looked, we saw a small girl, appearing ragged and not having eaten for days, holding out her hand. "Could you spare…a few Jewels?"

Mard Geer looked repulsed. "Come, Asher, let us not waste time with this-"

"Hey, hang on a second," I interrupted, kneeling down and flinging my backpack in front of me, opening it up. "Hey there," I greeted the girl softly. "What's your name?"

"It's… she sniffled. "Seil…" she answered.

"That's a great name, Seil. Hey, tell you what," I pulled out a book from my pack, one that I'd been reading myself in my spare time, along with enough Jewels for a good meal. "Take these, the book is a real page-turner, and that should be enough for a feast," I stated as I stood, patting the girl on the head. I turned back to Mard Geer.

"Now we can go," I said as we started walking off.

"T-thank you, sir…" the girl said after us before running off.

"What was that?" Mard Geer questioned. "What did she have to offer you?"

"See, humans have this thing called kindness. Demons apparently don't have that capacity," I claimed as we found a hotel to get some rest.

"So…do demons eat or sleep?" I asked as I plopped down on the bed.

"No," he answered.

"Alright then, you said that there aren't any demons that are awakened. Does that mean there are still some out there?"

"I suppose that's a possibility? Why?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, being the only one of something seems pretty boring; I thought you'd like some company."

"Unlike humans, we Etherius don't require interaction with others."

"I see."

"Although, Etherius' that have been converted from humans tend to have basic desires, such as revenge, lust, etc."

"Converted? How do you know that humans can be 'converted' into demons?"

"As I said, I know most of this world, yet not of myself, Mard Geer. Humans with an unusually high magic capacity usually make for prime candidates for conversion. That girl back in town actually was almost a perfect example."

"Yeah well, don't get any ideas," I said. "She's got a future; don't ruin it for her. Anyway, back to the topic at hand, do you know about any other demons that might be alive and just not 'awakened'?"

"Actually, I do, but it would be near impossible to find them, given that they're locked away in many of the Magic Council's archives."

"Aren't the archives used for housing secret books?"

"That's correct; the Books of Zeref house the souls of demons. If I had to make an educated guess, I'd say I also came from one, but how I was released I don't know."

I nodded. "Well, then that'll be our first goal."

Mard Geer nodded in agreement. "Hopefully it won't take that long. I wish to be rid of this nagging in my head soon."

"I'm sure everything will come back soon," I stated as I stood, and picked two more things out of my pack, making my way to the desk.

"What're you doing?" Mard Geer questioned.

"I've got family back in a place called Rosemary village. I left around a year ago and I've been keeping a journal," I stated as I lit up my light pen and began writing.

* * *

In the present, I'd fallen into a coma, with Mirajane and Makarov taking turns watching over me. It wasn't just a coma either, I'd been gripping my chest where my heart was and coughing out blood on a regular basis, with my cries of agony slowly becoming a clear sign of something much worse than any other sickness anyone in Fairy Tail had seen or even knew of.

However, suddenly, I released my chest and instead lit up magic into my finger, holding it up to the air. It just so happened that both Mirajane and Makarov were watching me, and both were intrigued by this as I began writing in the air.

"Sumer X782:

Met a man called Mard Geer who claimed to be a demon. Ironically, I decided against attacking him as he had just woken up and hadn't done anything.

He woke up with no memories and we've decided to stick together to find other demons and along the way we're hoping he'll regain his memories.

I can see the start of a good friendship from here. Wish you well,

Inigo Asher"


	48. 48 Detour

1 month later…

"Not a chance," Mard Geer claimed.

"Oh yeah? Then how do you explain how you were beaten on the ground not ten minutes ago and I had to save your ass?" I retorted.

"I was bluffing; allowing a partner to have the limelight every once in a while means they remain subordinate," Mard Geer brushed it off. We'd just come out of a scuffle with some Weretigers, and Mard Geer and I had separated the pack.

"Subordinate this!" I said as I punched the man across the face. In retaliation, he swiftly kneed me in the gut and we had a little scuffle ourselves, neither of us using anything other than our bare hands as his curse wouldn't have any effect on me because of my status as a natural Devil Slayer.

I backed away from my partner, both of us panting, before we both fell backwards onto the ground. "I…hope you realize…" Mard Geer started before catching his breath. "I only take part in these fights because it keeps you entertained."

"Yeah right, you love fighting me," I stated as I sat up. "How far are we from the archives?"

"Another day's walk," Mard Geer stated as we stood and began our trek. "And one more thing; you sense of competition is wasted on me."

"Why? Because I can kick your ass anytime I want?" I claimed cockily before I got an elbow to the gut faster than I could react.

"No, because I can kick yours," he said as I chuckled.

"Yeah whatever," I held my stomach where he'd hit me. "So what's the plan once we get there?"

"We break in, we get the books, and get out."

"Wow, thanks, Mard Geer Obvious."

"Alright, if you want something more, you do it. I still think that this is a horrible idea."

"Then why are you doing it?"

"Because I myself see no other way to free my brethren."

"Yeah, uh-huh," I replied. "Speaking of you, have any of your memories come back?"

"Not at all."

"Anything other than 'kill'?"

"No."

I sighed. "That's a shame," I stated as we walked the rest of the day in silence before setting up camp and getting a night of rest.

Well, I tried to anyway, though I didn't get a chance because of a nightmare. Flames surround me, as the corpses of the villagers lay in burnt piles on the side of the road. I see Kagura and Simon both be taken away this time, and I can do nothing but watch.

I drop to my knees, and see a light as well as Precht, but it quickly fades before I slip into unconsciousness from the fumes.

I burst awake, quickly trying to take in my surroundings before hearing the crackling of the campfire still next to me. I took several deep breaths before wiping the sweat from my face. I buried my hands into my face. "You Etherius are lucky."

"Oh?" Mard Geer questioned as he sat leaning against a tree. "And why's that?"

"Because you don't have nightmares," I said back, turning to face the fire. "For as much as you want it, you're also lucky because you don't have a past that can haunt you."

"…" he just let that one sink in before he continued. "…If you don't mind me asking, what is your past? All you've told me is that you have family in a 'Rosemary Village'."

I nodded. "Yeah, she's my sibling, or the closest thing I have to one. My parents died right after I was born, and I was raised by her family before her parents died a few years later. Then she, her brother, Simon, and I lived and ran an inn. Then these cultists came and took away a lot of the people in the village. Kagura and I hid away, and were spared Simon's fate. I haven't seen him since, but I know that he was killed by someone named Jellal. Once I got my magic from a traveler named Precht, I set out on this journey, trying to find this Jellal and kill him."

"Revenge then?"

"Yeah, I guess it is," I admitted.

"Then count yourself lucky; you still have a home to return to, while I do not."

I lay onto my back. "Don't worry, you're welcome to our inn anytime you need."

"But I don't have any Jewels; it would be-"

"Jewels?" I questioned. "Yeah right, I meant as family."

Mard Geer chuckled dryly. "If only, Asher."

"I'm serious," I stated, looking up at the stars. "Next to Simon, you're the closest thing to a brother I've got, and I know for sure I'm the closest thing you've got to one."

Mard Geer considered this. "Alright, brothers then."

I shrugged. "Sure."

"No, swear it," he ordered.

"Why?"

"If you say something, then you must mean it, and the most reliable way for your humans to do this is the swear it."

I waved it off. "Fine, I swear it or whatever," I said before drifting off into another sleep.

I woke up early, and Mard Geer had already left anyway by the time I did, which was unusual. I stood and searched around for a bit, soon hearing voices in the forest.

I hid behind a tree in order to keep myself hidden. "Yeah, apparently it's on Galuna Island."

"Really? They found Deliora? I thought it was killed."

"Everyone did, but then again, I've heard demons are rather persistent. Even still, I heard the Magic Council isn't going to do anything about it."

"What if it gets off the island?"

I nodded to myself as I left their presence, hearing enough. I returned to camp to see Mard Geer waiting for me. "And where were you?" he questioned.

"I could ask the same thing, Brother," I countered. "I was off looking for you."

"Well I went to scout ahead for danger."

We sat there glaring at each other for a moment before it broke and the moment passed as if it'd never happened. "Anyway, in my search, I overheard two guys talking about the latest news in the magical world."

"Oh? And why should we care?"

"Because the latest news is that a certain demon called Deliora was finally found."

Mard Geer raised his eyebrows. "Interesting. I'd thought the mindless beast dead."

"Do you want to go check it out?"

"Even as we're so close to the archives?"

"Well….to be brutally honest, I think we'd get caught if we tried to break in right now," I said as I scratched my head in embarrassment.

Mard Geer shook his head and exhaled. "You never cease to confuse me, Asher."

I laughed a little at that before continuing. "Apparently it's somewhere on Galuna Island. I've never heard of the island, but I'm sure it won't be that hard to find, right?"

Mard Geer nodded as we both stood. "Let's head back to town and see if there's a train to the port nearest to it."

And so we did just that, finding the place quite easily as off of the port city of Hargeon; one of the most boring places in Fiore by the way, before finally making it to the island in about a week's time from when we set off.

I hopped off of the boat we'd taken and examined the place. "It's…bland," I concluded. "Except for that mountain anyway."

"Then that'll be the first place we look," Mard Geer said as we started our trek. Once we arrived at the top, we found a cave that led into the mountain, which we took as an indication that this is the path that led the magic world to find this 'Deliora'.

As we followed the path, it eventually opened up into a larger room that glowed a shining light blue, almost as if ice covered about three fourths of the space…oh wait.

Yeah, immediately upon entering the room, we saw a massive demon, far larger than even Mard Geer's ego encased entirely in ice.

"Whoa…" I stood marveling at it while Mard Geer simply sighed.

"Well that's a shame…"

"What?" I asked.

"It's almost dead."

"Really? It looks in its prime, don't you think?"

"I highly doubt that," a new voice filled the room, and when we looked, we saw another person there, examining the beast as we were. "This demon has been sitting here for almost ten years now, the ice slowly whittling its life away."

"And who're you to know that?"

The man turned to us, the most noticeable thing about his being his blue hair and an impossibly intricate tattoo near one of his eyes. "My name is Siegrain. I came here on behalf of the Magic Council."

"What are you? Some kind of second-rate to them or something?" I insulted him.

"Don't test me, boy," the man warned. "And instead tell me what you're doing here."

"Well, we were just in the neighborhood and decided to visit the old ancient apocalypse demon."

"Your smart-remarks are getting in the way again, Brother," Mard Geer commented. "I apologize for his idiocy. We're here in order to see if we can free this demon."

I sweat-dropped. "And your brutal honesty will get us arrested," I countered. "What he means is we're here to make sure it remains sealed, should anything happen. Sorry for the poor wording on my partner's part," I nudged him.

"Given what you two are telling me, I _should_ have you arrested…but I won't. I'm simply going to warn you. Even if this demon is almost dead, it will kill both of you along with the inhabitants of this island before it dies. It is mindless, with only one desire; to destroy," Siegrain stated as he started walking past us. As he did, I noticed a set of keys on the back of his belt. As he shook our hands, I nabbed them and hid them away until he was gone.

With him gone, we approached the demon. I held my hand up to ice and blasted it point-blank with my lightning, to no avail. "Damn, this is some strong ice…" I complained, though I got no response. "Mard?" once again, no response. "Brother?" I turned back to face him, only to see him unconscious on the ground. I rushed to his side. "Hey, Mard Geer, wake up, you lazy bastard!" I called, slapping him lightly for a moment before he burst up.

"What? What happened?"

"You blacked out, you dick! You scared me half to death just with that!" I snapped.

"I…apologize…" he said as he held his head in pain. I helped him to a standing position.

"Come on, let's get out of here. This place is bad news to both of us," I stated, giving one last look at Deliora before we departed.

Mard Geer sighed. "A week's worth of travel for nothing…" he complained.

"Not for nothing," I held up the keys. "Looky, looky, what I found on the second-rate's belt."

"Are those…?"

I held up one with some writing on it. "For use only in emergencies; back archive door."

"So…you just secured our ticket," he simplified.

"Bingo. Let's head back. I think we have a good shot now."

On the train ride back, I began updating my journal.

In the real world, about a month had passed with the usual of Makarov and Mirajane worrying over me, though Mirajane much more so. At the time, she'd been convinced by the guild master to go take a break at the new bathhouse.

I raised my hand and lit up my finger once again.

"Summer X782

Finally found a ticket into the archives to find these Books of Zeref or whatever Mard Geer was talking about. Honestly, my heart is pounding just thinking about it.

Also met a guy named Siegrain who kind of came off as an asshole, but who knows? He's actually the guy I nabbed the key off of, so at least he helped out, right?

Anyway, here's to a successful robbery in the magic archives."

 **Author's Note:**

 **Sorry about the lack of a note last time; it was midnight and I was ready to pass out. Anyway, I should've made this announcement last time but, as of writing this note, this story has 10,239 views total; we have hit five digits. Thank you so much for your support throughout the entire journye and I hope I can finish out strong!**

 **Don't forget to review as well!**


	49. 49 Attempt

Once we made it back to the archive building, we made our way to the backside, seeing it still guarded, by two Rune Knight soldiers at the door.

"Let's deal with them," Mard Geer said from the shadows, rising to a stand until I pulled him back down.

"What do we do? Go up and kindly ask them to turn the other cheek?"

"No," Mard Geer whipped his hand to the side, and several vines wrapped around the soldiers and swept them away before they could do anything. "We do that."

I sighed, both of us running towards the door. I fished out the key and unlocked it, closing it back up once we made it inside. I looked around, seeing a small maintenance room that most likely led to further in the building. Mard Geer was about to open the far door to find out. "Wait!" I pulled him back. "What's with you and not thinking before you act?"

"I figured it would be the quickest way to move throughout the facility."

"Yeah, we'd move to our death's at record speed!" I pointed upwards. "See that? It's called an air vent. We're using it," I stated as I pulled the grate down and climbed up, followed by my partner.

"I don't see why you're so worried about me."

"Well, even if you can't comprehend the topic, I have this thing called common sense for one. And for seconds, I, contrary to what my magic implies, don't want you to die or be arrested or whatever."

"Inigo…"

"I mean, not that you'd do the same for me, but even still."

"…"

"And besides," I looked back at him and grinned. "We're sworn brothers, right?" He nodded at that and soon I saw mounds of book below us. "Down here," I said as I lifted the grate and hopped down after checking to make sure there was no one inside. "Alright, let's get this over with; how many of these books do we need?"

"There should be four here."

I nodded and started rummaging through a mountain. "Any idea what they look like?"

"Like this," he held up a rather demonic-looking book, fittingly enough. "I found one, this is for…the demon Kyoka."

I nodded and soon located two more stacked on top of each other. "Two more, Jackal and Tempester."

"And I've got the last one; Torafuzar."

"Weird names, like yours," I smirked. "Tell me, is Mard your first name and Geer your last name, or are you one of those pricks who has two first names?" I mocked him while stuffing the books into my backpack.

"Your humor is riveting, but save it until we get out of here," he said, deadpan.

We exited the room and then made our way through the vents again, but this time we didn't exactly go unnoticed. In fact, we were blown out of the thing. We felt the vents begin to shake long before it fell, and when it did, we landed with a crash. "Gah! Oh…ow…" I moaned as we stood, only to be met with a line of Rune Knights as well as the blue-haired second-rate himself, Siegrain, smirking at us.

"You know, telepathy is one thing I find myself enjoying, especially to see the priceless faces of petty thieves who I'd fooled into telling their whole plan without them ever knowing," he mocked us as we stood back to back, each facing a wall of soldiers. "I wouldn't bother fighting back, if I were you."

"Bite me, blue-balls," I insulted him. "Hey, Mard," I whispered.

"What?"

"I'm gonna distract them, you get out of here with the books."

"What?"

"…You're messing with me."

"That's a stupid idea; you'd surely be arrested or killed."

"You were gonna kill me anyway when we first met, so I say we cut it even," I said as I started to slip off my backpack. As soon as it fell, I released my magic power in a blinding light as Mard made a mad dash for the exit with the books on his back.

"After him!" Siegrain yelled, starting to give chase, but I punched him straight into the wall and blasted apart the ranks of his soldiers.

"Hey, second-rate! You're opponent's right here!"

"I don't have time for you!" the man growled as he stood, ripping off his white coat revealing a tight muscle shift as he lit up his magic. He began glowing a golden color. "Meteor!"

And then, faster than I could react, he dashed behind me and slapped me across the room. As I stood, I just barely saw him go behind me. I swung my fist around, but by the time it got around, he'd already moved on and was hitting me again. I kept turning to fight him, but he was always one step ahead of me. After the sixth hit, I'd had enough, and just up and caused my energy to burst out, knocking him away.

I took action quickly, charging toward him. "Thunder Devil's Ravan Katana!" I summoned a sword as I did, attempting to run him through, but he just barely moved out of the way and punched me in the gut, forcing me away and allowing him to once again start attacking, to which I did the exact same thing to counter, but this time he backed out of the way fast enough.

I was panting, my markings at least making their way across my chest already. "Mard Geer, I hope you're out of the building…" I muttered before I charged up my magic. "Because it's about to get bumpy!"

I shot a potent stream in the wall, blasting it to pieces, doing the same for the ceiling leading where Mard Geer had escaped.

"What are you doing?"

"Blocking your exit!" I yelled back before blast the opposite wall, with the structure about to come down on us.

"You fool!" Siegrain called before he rushed through one of the shattered walls, with me soon following until we were both outside.

"Get back here!"

"I said I don't have time for you!" he yelled back before he leapt into the air and swung his arm all different ways in a pattern, forming a massive magic circle. "Abyss Break!" he yelled before an enormous black energy beam was shot out, encompassing the entirety of the building and everything inside it, vaporizing it into nothing.

I just barely hung on from the blast, but the building didn't, along with most of the knights that had been attacking us. I couldn't move; my body too numb from the attack. I could only stare blankly as Siegrain walked up to me with a frustrated look on his face.

"This is what happens when you play with the devil, boy," he spat.

Moments later, two surviving Rune Knights came and put me in restraints which blocked off my magic power and dragged me away, far away, and into a cell which, like the restraints, blocked off my magic.

* * *

Mard Geer seemed to make it out without any scratches, out of the building just moments after he fled and well before I started to bring it down.

However, even he seemed to feel weak after the ordeal as, soon after he stopped, he collapsed, much like he had when we had visited Deliora. Little did I know that during these bursts of unconsciousness his memories were resurfacing due to his close proximity to other demons. "Kill…" he muttered. "Die…kill…Zeref…" he continued as he stood shakily. "But…Zeref is immortal…that's impossible…"

As more and more memories resurfaced, Mard Geer got a splitting headache, one that would've killed him had he been human no doubt from the strain on his head. He cried out, something within him rising and becoming visible for the first time in centuries.

He slammed his fists into the ground, creating a small crater from the impact before he burst up, silky wings sprouting from his back and his form changing almost completely.

He then leapt into the air, a black shroud following him and slowly peeling away from his form like flower petals as his skin changed in a sturdier, armor-like texture.

Mard Geer had awakened.

 **Author's Note:**

 **Truth be told I'd forgotten that I'd written that last part about Mard Geer. Whatever, it's a welcome edition in my mind and it adds a reason to seek out other demons for him later on, eventually forming the Dark Guild Tartarus.**

 **Anyway, what'd you guys think? I know these re going to be a bit more toned down compared to the non-stop mega-catastrophe stuff that we see int eh show most times, but hey; this part is supposed to be a character study; a tragedy even.**

 **With that being said, leave me a favorite or review, whichever is better for you!**


	50. 50 War

(In the real world)

I hadn't "updated" Fairy Tail in a while, in about five months actually, which worried Makarov and, obviously, Mirajane to no end. The latter wanted to spend every waking minute with me, but Makarov refused, not letting her dig herself into an emotional rut as she did when Lisanna died.

My condition had only worsened since then, a shroud of blackness spread across my entire body, soon to overtake it completely. I was coughing up not blood anymore, but the same black dust that was covering my body.

As I was living through Siegrain casting the Abyss Break on me, my real life body freaked out, thrashing about and letting out blood-curdling screams.

Life outside of my infirmary room within the guild hall wasn't exactly going to well either. Sure, people still talked and laughed like normal, but there was always this feeling, this foreboding feeling that this was only the beginning of something really bad.

That day, the war started.

It began as an urgent news lacrima was delivered to Makarov, and it claimed that the entirety of the Magic Council had been annihilated by a demon naming himself Jackal of the Nine Demon Gates. Not only that, but just a few days later, Laxus and the Thunder God Tribe returned, much to the joy of the guild. Unfortunately, Laxus was put out of commission by another demon while in the presence of former council member Yajima, the same one who guest commentated the Grand Magic Games that year.

Makarov especially was appalled by this, as he soon saw on the emergency lacrima news of that very attack, and how it killed over a hundred people. Freed approached his master. "Master Makarov, Laxus did what he could. He beat the demon for now, but there was this black…dust…and Laxus chose to eat them as he would lightning, and…"

Makarov put a hand on the young man's shoulder, not used to seeing him this, well, scared, but willing to give comfort nonetheless. "Relax, Laxus saved that town," he lied. "And he'll be fine, I promise. Do me a favor and lay him up next to Inigo."

Freed nodded and the Thunder God Tribe went to work.

Everyone in the guild stood in shocked silence, until Natsu of all people stomped on the ground, his flames inexplicably releasing from his body in pure anger. "Gramps, you know what this means, right?"

"Yes, Natsu. I know."

Natsu looked up, his gaze lowered in a threatening glare. "We're going to war on Tartaros."

Makarov nodded. "Yes, let's begin with protecting the other council members."

* * *

(Back in my POV)

It was a few weeks before I saw anyone other than my babysitter, and let me tell you; those truly were my darkest days. Hell, I basically had to give an arm and a leg in terms of begging to take a piss in private, so you can imagine what other basic rights I had to fight for like, I don't know, food.

Anyway, the person who came to visit was none other than my captor. "I'm surprised you've lasted this long," he commented as he approached my cell.

"Amusing, though instead of your remarks, I could use a little more grub here," I stated, to no response. "…That's not going to happen, is it?"

"I'm afraid not, though I can offer you quicker freedom in exchange for a little information."

"Oh shit, here we go again…" I complained.

"Hear it before? That's a shame; now where is he?"

I shrugged. "Not a clue, probably dead, or maybe plotting world domination with a horde of demons," I said before sighing. "So…how long do I got until I get out of here?"

"You're looking at a minimum of thirty years."

"Oh, good, he should be a middle-aged man by that point."

"What are you rambling about?"

"Nothing, just a little vendetta against some cultist named Jellal," Silence on the other end. "He killed by brother, Simon, so I want to kill him back if I can."

Siegrain sighed. "You criminals with your revenge plots…" he mumbled. "How pointless."

"You wouldn't know unless you knew me," I said simply. "Anyway, if that's all you wanted, then kindly leave me alone to mentally trace my fingerprint for the 7,000th time if you would."

I heard a couple footsteps signifying him leaving me, to which I sighed heavily. Part of me wished he'd stay. Alright, you never read that sentence, but I needed some form of contact with the outside world, right?

In any case, weeks more passed, and I thought that this would be my life. Little did I know that I would long to return to this simplicity not a few months later.

But before that, I had to get out. Eventually, though futile, I began to think of escape plans. None of them came to fruition, however, as before I could effectively carry any of them out, the entire building shook. I took a deep breath. "Here's my door…" I muttered as waited. The building shook more and more, until eventually, gigantic roots shot through the roof and into the magic container powering the cells in the room, causing everyone to flee in joy.

I looked toward the root as I felt my own strength return to me. "Brother," I acknowledged.

"Contrary to your belief," the Etherius stood and offered a hand. "I do have the capacity for…what did you call it?"

I chuckled. "Kindness…right…" I took the demon's hand and stepped onto the root. "Let's ditch this place and get some grub; haven't had a decent meal in months."

He nodded and the root receded into the hole in the ceiling. We made it outside, and were getting ready to make a break for it, but then we saw the blue-haired devil standing in our way.

"You know, you two are more annoying than I thought you'd be," he commented. "Meteor!" he yelled as the golden aura surrounded him as he charged into the air toward us, punching the root and knocking us both off.

"Not this again!" I complained as I stood, lighting up my magic and shooting it at him in waves, all of which he avoided. "Thunder Devil's Rage!"

"It's no use!" Siegrain called as he dashed toward me and picked me up, throwing me into a wall and pinning me to it. "No human can ever hope to match me!"

Suddenly, Siegrain was kicked away from me. "Then how about a demon?" Mard Geer questioned; a wicked look in his eye.

"We'll take him together," I said, to which he nodded. "Use your vines to take him by surprise and then we'll both rush him."

"Rose Explosion!" Mard Geer held his hand out, and a bulb erupted from the ground beneath Siegrain, which, what else, exploded point-blank in his face. While he seemed relatively unharmed by this, it allowed Mard to wrap his thorn vines around Siegrain's and pull him to the ground. I took action quickly, charging forward, leaping up into the air and smashing my fists imbued with magic onto him. He blocked it, and yet a crater was still left from the impact.

After that, Mard Geer, with his superior strength and with my distraction, landed several hard kicks to the gut, causing Siegrain to keel over. "Let's go!"

"Use it all!"

Mard Geer and I leapt to either side of Siegrain and dashed into him, both of our fists as strong as they could be, before leaping back. "Rose's Flash!" we yelled as I released Thunder Devil's Flash and Mard Geer interlaced his thorns with it, enveloping Siegrain.

As the dust cleared, we saw that he'd barely gotten a scratch on him, and had already reactivated his Meteor spell. Before either of us could react, he knocked us away from each other. He turned to Mard Geer. "Go back to hell where you belong!" Siegrain yelled as he prepared a spell, gathering every shadow nearby. I broke into a run toward Mard Geer. "Altairis!" he yelled as the massively dense black hole shot toward Mard Geer. I got there just in time, holding my hands out and empowering them with my magic, the lightning being emitted almost instantaneously being absorbed into the black hole. "Go ahead, try and stop it!"

I couldn't though, and the sphere collapsed in on itself, engulfing me and my magic. When it cleared, I couldn't feel anything, just stood there, and soon I didn't even have the strength to do that, and I fell backwards.

I saw Mard Geer standing behind me, glaring at Siegrain. He was shaking, out of pure unadulterated rage at this human. "I swear," Mard Geer started as he spread his arms out, causing his thorn vines to engulf him. "That will be the last time that you lay a hand on my Brother."

As the vines continued to engulf him, he began yelling, the strain of the transformation taking its toll as a massive flower emerged from the ground and swallowed Mard Geer, soon forming into his shape, appearing as armor before it shattered into a completely different person; taller, sleeker, more muscular, harboring a pair of sick bat-like wings.

"What the hell is this?" Siegrain questioned, readying himself. "Where did the demon go?"

"Demon?" Mard questioned. "I am right here. I am the only. The one. I am Demon Absolute: Mard Geer Tartarus!" he claimed, spreading his wings out, dashing forward and knocking Siegrain away.

Once he caught himself, he activated Meteor again, circling Mard, however, in a flash, Mard Geer flew forward and blocked his path, again knocking him away. The Etherius continued to toy with Siegrain, who was helpless to stop the onslaught. Soon, however, Mard Geer seemed to grow bored, throwing Siegrain up into the air and shooting up after him, landing one final blow, and letting the man fall to the ground, defeated. The Etherius walked up to him. "You will be punished for your insolence," he stated.

"Wait…" I called out to them. "Stop…"

"What?"

"Don't kill him. Make him owe us," I stated.

"I don't need the debt of a filthy human," Mard Geer raised his hand to strike Siegrain down. I raised my hand up, and mustered up what magic power I could, shooting it at the Etherius, who turned to me, glaring, and yet not resisting. We had a tense stare down before Mard Geer finally relented. As he approached me, his armor and wings slowly withered away like the petals off of a rose, and soon he was his old self again. He walked over to me and helped me to a sitting position. "Are you alright?" he wondered.

I nodded. "Just sore."

He helped me to a stand and we began walking away. "Well, now, we can take our time."

We made it to the nearest town, began to look for a room, but then realized that it would probably be the first place that Siegrain would look, so we simply moved on, finding a few comfortable trees to lean on for the night, stopping on the way to get the Books of Zeref and the rest of our belongings hat Mard had hidden away prior to saving me.

"Hey, Mard, can I have my backpack?" I asked, to which he offered it to me. I reached in and brought out my notebook. "Finally get to get back to this thing…" I muttered as I took out the light pen and began writing.

In the present, hardly anyone was around; Fairy Tail had just declared war on the Dark Guild Tartarus, and most of them were away protecting surviving council members, all save for those who tended to the wounded Thunder God Tribe and Laxus.

I raised my hand, catching the eye of Porlyusica, who had come to tend to the mages, and began writing.

"Winter X782

So, long story short, we screwed up and I was sent to prison. Mard Geer busted me out today, surprising I know. But hey, all's well that ends well, right?

Right…anyway, I was really shocked when that demon came to save me; I didn't think he had the emotional capacity for kindness or compassion. Maybe he'll be around long enough to introduce you. He's a little stern like Simon was, but he does have a sense of humor, a sick one sure, but a sense of humor nonetheless. I think you'd like him.

Anyway, from here, I suppose our goal is to bring back his brethren in the other Books of Zeref, so I guess I'll help him with that.

See ya later,

Inigo Asher"

 **Author's Note:**

 **Oh how I love parallels...whatever.**

 **Anyway, I uber-curious as to how you guys like this portion of the story and I promise that things will heat up after this chapter. It'll heat up faster than Sword Art Online will have a believable romance anyway (shots fired!)**

 **Whatever your opinion, I'd love to hear it; I won't bite, promise!**


	51. 51 Deal

"You can't be serious!" Makarov was shocked at the news. "Erza and Mirajane were captured?"

"Drugged," Happy concluded, a somber expression on his face. "Master…why is everyone leaving?"

"No one is leaving," Makarov promised. "Happy, get the Thunder God Tribe and the wounded to safety. Something tells me that Fairy Tail isn't the safest place for them," he ordered, to which Happy nodded and flew off toward us. Makarov turned to the door. "Natsu…I can only hope your struggle is going smoother."

"Natsu! Wait!" Lucy called after him.

"I can't! They have Erza and Mira! I have to save them!" he exclaimed, only pushing harder. "I am _sick_ and _tired_ of not being able to help my friends!"

"Natsu! This is pointless!" Gray agreed, him and Juvia having caught up with the two. "We should go get Master!"

"We don't have time!" Natsu persisted, his determination only growing stronger as he jumped up into the air and using his flames to propel himself far ahead of his companions. "I won't stop until all of Tartarus is burnt to the ground!"

"Stand down, Mard," I gripped his shoulder as he was about to deal the final blow. A group of rune knights had ganged up on us and we had a small scuffle with them; it only torched a single forest, don't worry. "They're beaten and can't follow us."

"Oh, it's this again."

"I said stand down."

He glared at me for a moment before relenting and walking away. I hesitated following him, which he noticed. "Come then, before I change my mind."

I soon fell into step with him. "What's with you lately; you've never had _this_ much of an urge for murder," I questioned.

"I'm growing tired of these pointless struggles; lowering the number of people chasing us is the easiest solution."

"The more people we kill, the more people will be after us," I countered. "I'm busting my ass for you and all you seem to do is feed the fire to get us captured."

He turned to me and stopped. "Then maybe you should leave."

"…"

"…"

"…I refuse. I said I would stay, and I'm going to."

Mard Geer shrugged and kept walking. "Then don't complain about what I do."

I frowned. "Whatever; what do we need to do to revive those other demons?"

"We need a large magic supply to resurrect all of them, which cost less than bringing them back individually. Still, the power needed is much larger than what you have."

"So we should find a couple of other powerful wizards."

"And what wizards would you find? Especially ones that would be willing to resurrect demons?"

I took the point. "Alright, fine. Any other ideas?"

"Well…no one ever said that magic had to be given willingly."

"No," I said. "I know exactly what you're thinking, and I won't allow it."

"Don't forget who saved your life not four months ago!" Mard Geer snapped and he pointed accusingly. "And what have you shown me? Scorn; for continuing to protect both of us! You owe me at least this!"

I swatted his hand away. "I've shown enough gratitude," I retorted. "And my life isn't enough to warrant a few thousand."

"In the grand scheme of things, a few thousand is nothing."

"These are _lives_ we're talking about here. These aren't just things that'll come back."

"Even still, I'd say it's worth it."

"Well, I don't. You said you needed magic to resurrect them, right? Well, then you'd need magic to even activate it, and guess who's your source of magic power right now?" I pointed to myself and began to walk past him. Suddenly I was jerked back and shoved into a tree, me lighting up my hand in lightning in defense and Mard Geer threatening to run me through with a thorn vine.

We stood glaring at each other for a long few minutes before we both realized exactly what was going on and we both ceased aggression. "What are we doing…?" Mard wondered.

"We've never…threatened that kind of fight before…" I agreed, both of us sitting down. "I'm sorry."

"Agreed."

"…but I still can't condone what you want to do."

Mard nodded. "I'll agree to look for an alternative."

We both sighed and I stood, offering my hand. "Thanks."

Days passed, and we'd been ambushed again and gotten separated. After I'd finished off my batch of soldiers, I heard footsteps behind me, expecting them to be Mard Geer complaining that I took too long, however, instead, I got another visitor.

"If it isn't my least favorite prisoner," Siegrain's form appeared from the trees. "And here I thought you'd be a prisoner again by now."

I lit up magic. "You want to fight? I'll kick your ass myself this time."

He held up his hand calmly. "I have no wish to fight you myself."

"Then…why are you-"

"I came to make you a deal."

"Yeah right; what's the reward, you slightly decrease my sentence?" I mocked him.

"I hope that you won't be irritable in this matter," Siegrain pleaded, though still in the calculating voice. "I just want a little…information on your companion."

"Get real; we're brothers; I could never betray him," I stated as I shot a bolt of lightning at the man, but it simply fazed through him: Siegrain was using Thought Projection. "Too cowardly to talk in person?"

"Come now; would you not hear me out before blindly attacking me?"

I contemplated shooting another bolt at him, but that would be proving his point. "…Go on."

"I'm sure you realize that man's killing intent by now, and you won't be able to control it much longer. I wish to keep casualties to a minimum, and to get that, I need information. I need to know where you're heading, when you'll get there, and what you plan to do when you're there."

"And if you don't like what we're doing?"

"Then convince him to turn back, or you'll have the whole of the soldiers in Fiore after you."

I waved off the threat. "Your 'elite' Rune Knights aren't all that tough," I stated. "Why should I be scared of some soldier?"

"Think about it. I've been sending droves of ten or twenty knights to fight you; imagine that on the scale of thousands. Still think light of my threat?" I opened my mouth to speak, but then closed it, thinking things over. "So long as you steer clear of the red path, no harm will come to your friend."

"…"

"Trust me; I'm after exactly what you're after; to save lives."

"…fine," I relented. "…But if you betray me-"

"I won't. I'll be keeping in touch," he stated as his projection began to fade. When I was left alone, I sighed, running my hand through my hair.

"What am I getting myself into?"

Eventually, I heard footsteps again, and this time, Mard Geer walked into the small clearing. He looked around at the unconscious knights. "Tch, took you long enough," he commented.

I smirked. "Jeez, I've been waiting here for twenty minutes so you could finish up. Come on, let's keep going."


	52. 52 Betrayal

"Hey, so, Mard?"

"Yes? What is it?"

"What was that thing you did earlier? When you were fighting Siegrain?"

"I believe that was my Etherius Form. Consider it similar to…your amplification magics. It offers a boost to my physical abilities."

"I gathered," I said, deadpan. "I meant how'd you do it?"

"I'm not sure, and quite honestly I don't care so long as I can use it again."

I nodded. "Alright, moving on, what say you we take a look at these books, now that we've made some distance from the feds?"

"Agreed," Mard Geer reached into my backpack and pulled out one of them. "Kyoka…strange, the name sounds familiar."

"You remember him?"

"Her," he corrected. "And…I must admit that I've remembered quite a bit over the past months during your imprisonment."

"Really? Like what?"

"Like, about what my mandate was," he hinted.

"You mean how you want to die?"

"Yes that; I've recalled another word, Zeref, the same person who created these Books. I've been thinking…perhaps my mandate isn't to die, but instead it is to kill this Zeref."

I sweat dropped. "You say it so nonchalantly…" I muttered. "Alright, but why would Zeref create you demons just to kill him?"

"I'm not sure," he admitted as he opened the book, beginning to read. "Hm…interesting…"

"What does it say?"

He popped the book closed. "It's all gibberish to me," he stated as I flopped to the ground.

"Talk about a huge disappointment," I commented as I snatched it form him. "Maybe it's like a grimoire and…I can't read it either…" I said as I began filtering through the book, finding nothing that I recognized.

"It doesn't matter what it says," Mard concluded. "Zeref most likely wrote it in his own dialect, so no one could steal its secrets."

"Oh yeah? Then how to we resurrect them?"

"As I said, we'd need a large magic supply."

"Alright, where is a place that's magically charged?"

We both stopped in our tracks and thought about the question. "Ditto."

"Agreed," Mard said as we both sighed.

"You know…a few thousand isn't seeming like all that much right now…" I muttered, turning to Mard to see his reaction.

"Seriously?"

I looked at him, deadpan. "…No, it was a joke," I stated. "Let's go to the next town and see if they've got a map of Fiore somewhere, deal?"

Mard Geer nodded and we began to make our way there, stopping to rest along the way. I sat down as began shooting down branches so I could quickly light a fire for us as it was getting cold because of winter. "I'm going to scout about a mile ahead to make sure there won't be anyone watching," Mard said as I nodded, such an act having become routine since I'd escaped from prison. I even made magic alarms that Mard could set up despite him not having any innate magic power.

A few minutes after Mard left, something went off in my backpack; a sound that had come to be familiar. I reached inside and pulled out my notebook, which Siegrain had been using to contact me. I scowled as his image appeared as a tiny hologram on the page. "What do you want?" I questioned. "We're not doing anything."

"Really? Then why do I feel your magic in a different location this time?" he questioned back.

"It's this new invention called travelling," I stated. "We're heading into a town to research, that's all."

"I highly doubt that," Siegrain claimed as he put his hand to his chin. "You'd better watch him more closely."

"I don't recall ever asking you for-"

"You haven't asked for anything, and that's what worries me. Normally when this sort of thing happens, your type is usually the first to blackmail my type. And you're not."

"Have you ever considered that I might just not be interested in anything you can give me?"

"What about the whereabouts of Jellal?"

My lip twitched. "…I'd rather find him myself," I stated stubbornly. "It wouldn't feel right to just be given the kill."

"Perhaps killing him will be harder than you think."

"I guess we'll see…is that all you wanted? Because that's all the info I'm going to give you."

"…For now, yes."

I popped the book closed, stuffing it back in my backpack. "Pft, idiotic politics; think they can just take control of my life…" I muttered as I rubbed my hands together, holding them up to the fire I made. A few minutes later, Mard returned. "Anything?"

"Trees, leaves on the ground, a bit of frost."

"Anything interesting?"

"Not a thing," he stated as he sat down against one of the aforementioned trees. "Anything here?"

"I wrote a new entry in my journal," I lied. "Not that you'd care."

"What you say about me to your family is of no concern to me. I only care about bringing back my brethren."

"As per usual for Mr. Stoic Demon over here," I stated.

"Whatever you say."

The next day, we made it to the town around sunset, so about five in the evening. We managed to track down a map of Fiore in some washed up book store, looking for any points of interest in a room we got for the night.

"I've got nothing."

"Maybe a wizard guild would be willing to help for the right price," Mard suggested.

"Us and what money?" I wondered, debunking that idea, looking over the map one last time. "I've heard about some weird magic spikes at Crocus around the Grand Magic Games, but that's only around…the time of the games…so…"

"And it's mostly caused by the number of wizards there, not the inherent magic of the city," Mard added, debunking another idea. We both sighed as I tossed the book to him, across the room. "Tell you what, I'll keep looking. You get some rest."

I nodded, yawning at the mention of sleep. "Might as well since you don't need shut-eye," I stated as I flopped onto one of the beds. "Goodnight. See ya tomorrow."

"Yes, goodbye."

The night was rough for me, in fact it wasn't even completed when I woke up. I burst awake, feeling something wrong happening. I looked outside out window, not seeing anything within the city itself.

I opened said window and hopped out, instantly feeling the cold against my skin. As I landed, a shiver went up my spine. "Ohhoho, that's brisk!" I whined to myself as I slipped my hood over my head. I looked around toward the outskirts, seeing a small blue light emanating from one of the tree clearings.

As I approached, I noticed that it wasn't one distinct glow, but rather four, all occurring independently of each other. In the clearing, there was one figure and one figure only.

Part of me regrets having approached, and part of me regrets not having just gone along with what happened. Instead I chose to fight against it.

"Mard?" I questioned.

"Go back to sleep, Brother," he said immediately.

"What are you doing out here?" I questioned., examining the glows, seeing that they were coming from magic circles, with the Books of Zeref in the center of each. "Are you…" I quietly lit up my magic, ready to blow away the magic circles, but before I could, Mard whirled around and sent a solid mass of a vine and whip me back, making me crash into a tree.

"Yes, I am. I've waited long enough for you and I refuse to wait any longer, Brother. This town is perfect, with dormant magic seeping from its people left and right. All it needs it one little push to begin, and then I will be reunited with my brethren."

I lit up my magic yet again. "Yeah, and who's going to give that push?"

Mard cracked a sick grin. "You are, of course, whether you want to or not!"

I smirked. "You don't honestly think you can beat me, do you, Mard? Your curses don't have an effect on me and my magic was made specifically to kill your kind. Please, just stop this stupid plan and we can keep looking for another way."

"There is no other way!" he yelled. "Do you recall when we tried to read the Books?"

"Key word being 'tried', remember? We couldn't-"

"I lied! I could read every word and it said that this was the only way!"

I frowned. "You lied? I thought family didn't lie to each other?"

"And? You've been keeping your fair share of secrets, haven't you? With you little meetings with that Magic Lapdog with the blue hair!"

"I did that to save lives," I retorted. "What you're doing I murder; it's this kind of act that I can't stand."

"Tch, you Devil Slayers…always having your idiotic sense of _nobility_ …" he put poison into his words.

"Oh? Remember something else from your past? Another secret?" I accused. "Mard, stop this now, and we can just keep going, like we always have. Stand down."

"I refuse to stand idly by and let my true brothers be confined to pages in a book," Mard stood firm, raising his hands and, with them, his vines. "I'll do what has to be done; I don't care who you are."

"I'm starting to wonder if you ever cared about me," I retorted. "Did you ever consider me family as I did you, even as my true family was taken from me? No, I can't believe that; even if you are an Etherius, you have good in you; you came back for me when-"

"I only came back because I knew that I needed you."

"You're wrong! You could've tricked any other wizard, but you chose me!" I claimed.

"You know nothing!" Mard yelled. "Now if you plan on standing in my way any longer, I'll be sure to visit your _family_ and I'll let them join you in hell!"

I dashed forward, now furious. "You bastard!" I yelled, blasting him away with my magic, backing through a tree. "Thunder Devil's Flash!"

I shot the attack toward my brother, who rolled out of the way and held out his hand. "You aren't the only one to shoot blasts! Deep Brier!" a small sphere of pink energy erupted into Mard's palm, which then shot toward me, the curse itself not harming me, but the fact that it was so much energy compacted into such a tiny space forced me backwards, far away from the magic circles. Not only that, but when I stopped, it exploded, creating a crater around me.

"Mard…" I warned.

"I won't let you hurt them," he vowed.

"I don't even want to hurt _you_!" I snapped. "Stop this madness!"

"You have no idea the pain I've endured, knowing my brethren are right next to me and not being able to interact with them, instead being paraded around by an outsider!" he yelled back, a massive rose enveloping him, soon blooming, revealing Mard Geer in that other form, his Etherius Form.

I lit up my magic, but before I could even react, he dashed behind me and knocked me back toward the magic circles, then, ironically, flying circles around me in the sky.

"It must pain you as well. You thought we were family; you thought you could trust me, and in return I offered my trust, and you even betrayed that!" he yelled as he dove and knocked me away again, resorting to sheer force to win the fight rather than his curses, knowing they were useless against me.

"Damn it! Snap out of it! This isn't you!"

"But it is! I'm a _demon!_ I was created to cause untold destruction and chaos!" he exclaimed, knocking me back again. As I stood, he remained stationary in the air.

"Damn it, no choice then…" I muttered, beginning to charge up my magic power and extending my hands, crossed over each other, to the side, bring them around so each carved into the air one half of a magic circle which erupted into a massive one before shrinking to become unnoticeable, being replaced with a condensed sphere of light containing nigh all of my magic energy. Mard simply watched. "The ultimate Devil Slayer Spell, capable of sealing away any demon for eternity!" I yelled, having major difficulty controlling my magic, my arms shaking from the force of it. "Memento Vivere…" I struggled out.

Then the most disturbing thing happened; Mard Geer smiled at that fact.

Just then, my magic exploded out of my control, going every which way. "Yes! Victory is mine!" Mard Geer yelled.

"What?" I could only wonder for a split second before an immense pain surged through my body as my magic was drained. I was standing on top of the central magic circle, the one designed to absorb the magic energy of the entire town, needing only a kickstart, which I unwillingly provided.

The pain lasted several minutes, and all I could think about was the fact that I'd failed; not just for myself or the town which would appear abandoned in twenty minutes, but I failed Mard Geer. He needed just an ounce of humanity instilled in him to steer him on the right path and I was unwilling to provide it, using him as a cipher to travel and search everywhere for the man who murdered my brother.

I'm not sure when it happened, but the pain stopped, and I fell to my knees, panting. I heard bones crack, as if waking up and stretching in the morning.

"Where the hell am I?" I heard a new voice.

"Welcome, brothers and sisters," Mard Geer said proudly. "Welcome back to this world. You are all Etherius, demons created from the Books of Zeref, and I am your eldest brother," he stated to all of them.

"And…" a demon with a deep voice pointed to me. "Who's that?"

"He's…" Mard Geer frowned, his eyes lowering in anger. "an annoyance; I say we should be rid of him."

One of the Etherius cracked his knuckles as I struggled to stand. "Good, this forest will do nicely, I've been itching to start a little blaze with my Bomb Curse."

"And I'd be happy to blow him off the face of the planet with my tempests," another claimed, both sporting twisted grins at the thought of destroying me.

"Strange," the only female said. "My curse doesn't seem to affect him."

"That's because he's…a Devil Slayer Wizard."

Almost immediately, they turned on me, more so than before. Without even being able to fight back, I was brutalized through the forest, for seeming hours until eventually I was all but dead; several broken ribs, a broken arm, sprained ankles; and those were the wounds that could heal.

They were about to finish me off, but Mard held up his hand. "Wait…let him die slowly," he said, to which they agreed, walking away, wanting me to die painfully for simply being a Devil Slayer. Mard stayed behind through, and knelled down next to me. "It didn't have to turn out like this."

I spat my blood onto his face. "Murderer…" I choked out before Mard Geer punched me.

"You would do the same thing for family," he stated harshly before he stood. "I'm off to pay your family a little visit. Where were they again? Ah, yes…Rosemary Village."

"B-bastard…"

Mard Geer looked down onto me, no longer with malice, not visible malice anyway, but rather pity. "…you know…for what's it's worth, you were the first human in a millennia to make me feel…happiness…joy even. For that, I thank you, but I no longer have any use for you. Goodbye forever, Inigo Asher."

Those were the last words I heard before passing out from the blood loss.

 **Author's Note:**

 **So, I apologize for not having a little message at the end of the last one, but now, uh...yeah...I'm not really sure what to say other than did anyone see this coming? I mean, I probably would have but that's just because I know how I would write it, but...yeah, let me know.**

 **Speaking of letting me know, how about you leave a favorite to show me you liked it or even better a review to help me improve, give compliments, criticism, or anything in-between. Whatever floats your boat!**

 **Until next time, where things in the past will come to a head, bye-bye!**


	53. 53 Cataclysm

I burst awake, my memory hazy for a brief, second, everything around me seemingly blurring into static for a moment, something I would later realize was due to my health worsening in the real world, but even still, it caused a slight jarring effect to my memory.

After the dizzy spell lifted itself, I stood, my ribs aching and my broken arm numb. I stumbled forward, remembering finally that Mard Geer was going to attack Rosemary Village; he was going to kill Kagura, and I wouldn't let that happen.

I stumbled back into the village, getting weird looks from the townspeople, but not as weird as the Rune Knights who were waiting for me. I saw Siegrain himself standing at the front, a blank expression on his face. "Did you…come here to kill me?" I questioned.

"I've no reason to; you're worthless."

"…If that's all you came here for, then leave already."

"Oh, but that's not all; I came to tell you that our deal is null and void. I'll be taking over the job from here."

"Don't…touch Mard Geer," I warned.

"I vow that he'll come to justice."

"And I'm going to do it," I stated, glaring at him and lighting up magic in my good hand. "And anyone who gets in my way is going to regret it."

"You of all people I wouldn't expect to want to hunt down the demon."

"He made it personal," was all I said.

"Tch, even if I were to agree to that, you are broken; what could you possibly do?"

"You have healers, so heal me!" I snapped, becoming impatient.

After a bit of hesitation, he motioned for one of his knights to use their healing magic on me, rejuvenating me back up to near 100%. "And what do you want in return."

"Nothing," I stated once again. "Just like before. Be at Rosemary Village after the fight in case I fail, I'm sure you'll be able to track it," I stated as I began to leave.

"You still haven't told me how you're going to beat him."

I dropped my arms to my sides, looking up at the sky. "I…always thought he'd become my greatest ally, a lifelong friend…but now…" I looked back to him. "He's my Archenemy," I said before taking my leave, catching the first train to close to where I needed to go.

I entered the village with a large hood covering my face, so no one would recognize me and distract me. If anyone even got close to me, I pushed them away, not wanting unnecessary annoyances as I entered mine and Kagura's old inn, finding it locked. I reached into an adjacent flowerpot and fished out the spare key we always put in there and went inside, soon finding the thing I was looking for, and thankfully not the person I was afraid of finding. I picked up the sword left abandoned, the Archenemy, and left before anyone noticed I was inside, and went outside the village, sitting down and waiting, the sword strapped to my back, under my temporary cloak.

"What the hell are you doing?" a voice came from behind me.

I waited for the person to come into view. "You're…"

"Kagura; Kagura Mikazuchi," she introduced herself, not realizing who I was. "I ask again what you're doing outside my village."

I stood, careful not to show my face, as she would no doubt want to help in the fight should she see it. "Go back to your home, girl. A storm's coming soon, you need to protect the village."

"And who are you to tell me that?"

"Someone who…knows how important this place is to certain people," I stated. "Now get out of here," I ordered, to which I got no response. "Didn't you hear me? I said to get out of here!" I yelled.

"I…" she hesitated.

"Leave!" I blasted her away, more lashing out in blind anger than to really harm her, and it turns out that she was just a little shocked at the outburst, before retreating to the inn.

After a while of nothing, I finally caught their scent, their presence filled the air. My intuition told me so, and then there they were, each facing me down. I lowered my hood.

"I'd thought you dead, Brother," Mard smirked.

Jackal cracked his knuckles. "Good, another chance to knock the Devil Slayer on his ass."

"This time I rend his flesh from his bones," Tempester vowed.

"Mmm…I'm more interested in causing pain to his…what is it called?" Kyoka grinned. "Family."

My magic flared and I swiped my arm behind me, creating a solid, sustained wall with my magic. "They stay out of this; you're fighting me," I ordered. "And this time I'll destroy you."

"My ultimate defense says otherwise."

"My magic to counter yours says I will," I retorted before taking up a stance.

"So come on then; find out whether you have what it takes to be a Devil Slayer or not."

We all stood silent, a tense stand-off to see who would attack first, and it turns out to be the most hotheaded one; Jackal.

He burst forward rapidly, not wasting any energy in doing fancy moves, but rather simply applied brute force and animalistic tendencies to his attacks. I countered every last one of them and then retaliated with a Thunder Devil's Flash, blasting him away, following him, leaping above him, and putting him out of commission with a Thunder Devil's Rage right on top of him.

I landed and waited for the next assault, this time a group attack by all but Mard Geer. I dodged around Tempester's attack but was caught off guard by Kyoka's kick, which sent me flying into a hold from Torafuzar, where he attempted to crush me. I simply released my magic and he was all but forced to let go, where I uppercutted him. "Zeus' Wrath!" I yelled as a burst of electricity shot him away as well, soon cornering Kyoka and knocking her into their "ultimate defense", keeping him down, soon doing the same for Tempester and blasting them all out of commission. Mard Geer simply watched as his partners were knocked out one after the other, then clapping when I'd finished them off.

"Simply amazing, Asher. But it's really a shame. You didn't kill them; and you call yourself a Devil Slayer."

"I'm giving you one last warning. Leave this place, forever."

"You should know by now that once I get my mind set, I won't let anyone get in my way!" he yelled as he changed into his Etherius form. Before I could react, he appeared behind me, and knocked me away. Just as I landed, he knocked me into a tree and smashed me through it with a powerful kick.

He waited this time, giving me the opportunity to unveil my secret weapon. I threw my cloak off, revealing a sword in its sheath.

"Oh wonderful, a toothpick!" he dashed forward toward me, but this time I drew the sword and slashed as he tried to attack. A massive ray of energy erupted from the blade, piercing through the gauntlet of Mard Geer's armor. "Argh!" he cried out, throwing off the steaming armor piece.

"This blade has been passed down through my family for generations, powerful enough cause a cataclysm. I promised that it would only be drawn when absolutely necessary. This is what you've pushed me to, Brother."

"It doesn't matter! I'm still going to kill you!" He dashed forward again, but this time flew above me and circled me. I couldn't even react as he dashed and attacked me. "I _was_ always faster than you!" he exclaimed repeating the same tactic three times.

I stopped, and waited. I realized that I needed to slow down to win this fight. I heard him coming from behind, turned around, imbued my entire body with my magic and swung five times, faster than could even be seen, appearing to swing only once, clean across Mard Geer's torso.

He fell over, unable recover from the blade's power. I was shaking. I clenched my fist around the blade, and then kicked Mard away. "I trusted you!" I yelled. "I would've given my life for you!" I followed him, picked him up by his ankle and swung him into a tree. I went over to another tree and sliced it so that it would fall on top of him. "And what do I get for it? A stab in the back!"

He chuckled weakly under the trunks. "I _am_ a demon…" he reminded me, which only made me angrier. I raised the blade and swung downwards, picking it back up and smashing it down onto him through the debris, again and again and again.

"I hate you!" I yelled as I brutalized him. "I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!"

I swung down one last time and stopped, dropping to my knees and panting. Mard Geer was nearly dead. "Heh…you really don't have what it takes…you won't kill me…" he claimed.

I glared at him, but didn't retaliate. "I'm…" I took a deep breath. "I'm done fighting you…I'm leaving. If you hurt Rosemary Village or anyone in it, I'm going to kill you. If you try and find me, I'm going to kill you. And if you _ever_ threaten to even look at my family wrong, I'm going to kill you."

I stood and turned around, tears falling from my eyes.

"You…were…my last brother…" I muttered before I ran off. Upon getting a few miles out, I went back to Rosemary Village, garnering a new hood to conceal my face and knocked on the inn door.

"Hello, we provide services for all who-"

"I don't want service," I said. "I came to return something," I offered the blade.

"Igi's sword!" she snatched it away and checked for any damages. "Why did you-"

"I needed it," was all I said before I turned around. "You should take better care of it, your brother would be disappointed that you just leave it here."

With that, I took my leave, finding Rune Knights outside the village for protection while I saw the places where I left the demons to be empty; they'd fled.

When I looked at where I left Mard Geer, I had another dizzy spell, and everything stung for a moment before it all returned to normal.

As I board the nearest train, I vowed to myself that I would take care of any demons I found, and I sure as hell wanted to find a lot of them.

I took the train as far away as I could from the village, stopping in some town someplace for a book on a certain magic type; tracking magic, specifically dark magic or demonic magic; a Demon Detector if you will, and I mastered it quickly, soon getting a ping.

I stopped the night before I was going to strike, soon getting a ring from my notebook. I took it out and opened it, seeing Siegrain's hologram. "What do you want? Our deal is null and void, remember?"

"I also expected you to be dead by this point, Devil Slayer," he retorted.

"I said I'd handle it, and I did."

"An impressive feat for one who couldn't even beat me, a 'second-rate'."

"Shut your trap if that's all you wanted to say," I began to close the book.

"Wait!" I stopped. "I offer you a reward."

"I said I didn't-"

"But you do," he interrupted. "This will be the last message you ever receive from me, and trust me, you won't be able to find me. The truth is, I've been keeping a secret from you; one I'm sure you're dying to hear."

"Then tell me!" I yelled.

He looked up at me. "I…am Jellal."

I closed the book immediately, moving it one hand. I felt my anger spiral out of control as I shot a bolt through the book, incinerating it. I stood, walking away from the camp. I needed to hit something, and a demon would do fine.

I went to the town and found her quite easily, with her not exactly hiding her magic power. "I found you, demon!" I called to her, and she turned around, revealing sapphire eyes and beautiful white locks.

Suddenly, everything went dark, or rather, everything seemed to illuminate back up. The girl was still there, but was aging rapidly, before she appeared around twenty and held her hand out to me. "Come back to us, nakama…" she begged, tears falling form her eyes.

I held my head, my memory becoming foggier and foggier and everything came rushing back. "Who are…" then I got this splitting headache as literally every memory came back to me all at once before I was my old self again. I even caught glimpses of what had happened in my absence, Natsu waging war on Tartarus, Mirajane and Erza fighting losing battle against faces old and new, Gray fighting an Ice Devil Slayer, and finally, as the pain coursed through my body fifty times faster than my heart beat, I saw a vision.

"The ultimate curse!" I heard Mard Geer yell as he faced down Natsu and Gray. "Memento Mori!"

I writhed as the spell was shot off, every muscle in my body burning as if I was swimming in lava before everything disappeared.

The pain, the darkness, everything; I was finally able to walk into the light again, a bright light that shone through my deepest despair, when I was on the verge of death. I reached for it, holding out my hand to it, and I was lifted up, higher and higher, until I could almost feel it.

I was finally going home.

 **Author's Note:**

 **Ah, finally, I'm done with the past and everything about it...for now. From here, it'll pick up right at the end of the Tartarus arc, basically after the dragons had their time in the sun, and assume that none of the demons present int eh past have been killed, like Tempester would have at that point.**

 **Anyway, whatever, I guess that's it; this fic is almost at an end, but for now, go ahead and leave a review for me!**


	54. 54 Memento Lucem

I burst awake, the scent of herbs and other substances flowing in my nose and the sight of an unfamiliar infirmary in my sight.

At first it was bustling and loud, but then everything seemed to stop, and I noticed that everyone's eyes were on me. "Are we…in Fairy Tail?" I wondered. Porlyusica kneeled next to me.

"Fairy Tail…was destroyed while you were ill. Most of its members were kidnapped and taken to Tartarus," she explained. I stood. "Where are you going? You need to rest," she insisted.

"I feel fine. I just need…" I racked my brain. "I need to hit something," I said as I walked out. Porlyusica watched me go, the Thunder God Tribe watching too.

She chuckled. "A fairy through and through," she mumbled to herself before returning to her work.

I walked outside and observed my surroundings before I got a pang in my head; there was a large outburst of demonic energy being used, and I needed to follow it.

I quickly made a thundercloud and hopped on, flying full-speed toward Tartarus. Yes, I knew that I would have to fight Mard Geer once again and yes, I knew everyone else was in trouble, but at the moment, I didn't care. I was healed; the Memento Mori having been used up and its effects on me having subsided. With both of my arms to use now, I would be unstoppable against that demon trash.

After what seemed like an hour, in reality with how fast I was going it was probably more like twenty minutes, I spotted the guild headquarters of Tartarus; Face.

All through the outskirts of the structure, I saw flashes of light signifying fights taking place, fights that Fairy Tail couldn't win.

The biggest one just so happened to be on the opposite side, and I crashed through the ceiling as an attack went off, my lightning being released and spiraling around me as I landed, negating whatever attack was being thrown.

It was there that I saw exactly who I was looking for. There was Natsu and Gray, of course form the vision, and Mard Geer. All three looked shocked, Mard even looked appalled that I'd show my face here.

"Ash…" Natsu muttered.

I stood straighter and cracked my neck, which was stiff form having napped for too long. I then sighed. "Jeez, talk about a letdown; the first Guild War against a guild full of demons and I'm out for the count before it even starts. Just my luck," I spat before pausing and glaring at Mard Geer. "Though I guess that's how you planned it, right? Brother?"

"Brother?" Gray questioned.

Mard clenched his teeth. "You…should be dead," he said quietly.

"'I should be'? Once again, you underestimated the power of a Devil Slayer. I don't care how you plant it inside me; a curse is a curse and I have ways to counter it," Mard could only glare as I turned to Natsu and Gray. "Where are the rest of Fairy Tail?" I questioned.

"They're fighting Tartarus," Gray stated. "They can handle themselves. Come on, we need to worry about-"

"No they can't; not against this kind of enemy," I interrupted, only to be interrupted myself.

"Deep Brier!" Mard yelled, shooting the cursed energy blast toward me. I swiftly turned around and held out my hand, stopping the attack with it, and crushing it in my hand as it exploded to where it was useless. Natsu and Gray looked shocked that I was able to do so.

"Gray, find the Fairy Tail members and get them out of here," I ordered. "Natsu, leave. Your battle is over."

"What?!" they both yelled.

"We can't just leave you to fight this guy!" Natsu cried.

"And Ash, I'm a Devil Slayer now, I can beat him with you!" Gray agreed. I clenched my fist.

"He's too strong for either of you!" I snapped. "Gray, your markings are rapidly progressing and Natsu, your magic can't even touch him!"

"But-"

"Leave!" I yelled, lighting up my magic and creating a barrier between me and them. "This is _my_ fight to finish. And I'll get rid of _anyone_ who stands in my way!"

Natsu gave me a hard stare. "...You'd better come back safe, or Mira'll cry even harder than she already has," he said before they both turned and ran. I turned back to Mard Geer.

"Now, it's just you and me, like it was meant to be, Brother."

He chuckled. "You're right, just the two of us...along with the rest of the demons you failed to destroy," a glow illuminated around him, as dark energy coalesced into five other forms, revealing the other original demons, and a newcomer, in mid-attack.

After realizing that they were no longer fighting, they each glared at Mard Geer. "I was about to destroy the Fairy trash!" Jackal said.

"Save it, Brothers and Sisters. We have much greater threat here; deal with the garbage later," he motioned to me.

One of them, one that I didn't recognize the appearance of, held his head. "You…I remember you…" he claimed. "I was…going to blow away your village."

"Tempester," I acknowledged him. "Jackal, Torafuzar, Kyoka. The gang's all here," I smirked. "Good, it saves me the trouble of tracking you down. But who's the newbie?"

"Seilah," Kyoka put her hands on the new one's shoulders. "Is the one whom you saved from starvation."

"…You're the girl who I gave the book to. Mard turned you into an artificial demon," I concluded before sighing. "A shame."

In the rest of the building, everyone who'd been fighting or being held captive, basically everyone, even Laxus and the Thunder God Tribe from back at the makeshift hideout and The Twin Dragons of Sabertooth, carrying what looked like a body, had sensed a large surge of power enter the fray and finally reached it, seeing me facing off against the remaining members of Tartarus.

"I warned you, Brother; if you had even looked at Fairy Tail wrong, I would end you, all of you!" I called to them. "I'm going to kill every last one of you with my bare hands!"

"Without that demon's blade as a catalyst, you can't possibly hope to defeat all of us!" he called back with a swipe of his hand, as everyone charged up their power as I lit up my magic. They all ran at me.

"We'll see."

I ducked under Tempester's kick and caught it, swinging him to keep Torafuzar at bay before I took on Kyoka and Jackal as they rushed me, forcing me back, sure, but I didn't let them land a hit. Instead I kept them at bay with my magic before rushing toward Jackal, punching him in the gut and then knocking him up into the air.

Then I was sucker-punched by Seilah but quickly knocked her away as well, soon ducking under Kyoka's next assault, blasting the incoming Torafuzar away with a Thunder Devil's Flash. I then took to the offensive, heading straight for Mard as he prepared himself. We met fists and the pressure forced us both backward before meeting again, this time with me punching him away straight into a wall, with such force to knock the entire side over.

* * *

The rest of Fairy Tail looked on. "He's…winning…" Cana stated.

Even Erza was stunned. "I've never seen Inigo fight like this. It seems…"

"Feral," Makarov agreed. "That boy in striking out in focused, primal anger. Consider it similar to Natsu's Flame of Emotion, but on a much larger scale and driven by rage instead of passion."

"Do you think he'll beat them?" Elfman wondered.

"To be honest…if he keeps going like this, I'm not sure anyone will be able to stop him."

* * *

With most of her other allies still recovering, I walked up to Seilah who looked frustrated and confused.

"Why…can't I control you?!" she demanded.

"You really are stupid if you think I'd be manipulated by a worthless piece of trash like you," I spat before feeling that Kyoka was charging toward me.

I side-stepped out of the way and caught her arm, pounding her in the chest before throwing her up and kicking her away. Seilah saw this and looked outraged. "Don't touch her you bastard!" she yelled as she attacked blindly. I leaned out of the way and tripped her up with my arm, quickly kicking her up into the air. As she came back down, I lit up my hand, in the form of a blade, with my magic and swung downward, slicing clean through her body, cutting her in two.

Black blood sputtered everywhere, some even onto my body which was absorbed, kind of like how Dragon Slayers bathe in dragon's blood. Her screams were deafening, and the other members of Tartarus looked half-appalled and half-infuriated.

I picked up her top half by her hair. "Still breathing?" I wondered, more annoyed than anything else.

"Please, please don't kill me!" she begged, tears running uncontrollably in the face of her own demise. "I'll do anything! I'll give you whatever you want, just please don't kill me!"

"A deal then?" I inquired. "Sorry, but," I lit up my free hand and shoved it through her chest, exorcising the demon's soul. "I don't deal with false demons," I said darkly as I removed my hand from the open wound, most of her blood being absorbed instantly into my own power supply, making me stronger and stronger still as I absorbed her soul. I then tossed her away lazily toward her allies.

"You bastard…" Kyoka was shaking in anger.

"Brother and sisters, this isn't the time to hold back!" Mard Geer yelled, shooting out another form of dark energy into his allies, inducing another sort of transformation.

I looked around as they circled around me, each with their own brand of grotesque, monstrous, primordial forms. "Their Etherius Forms," I concluded. "Tell me, is this by their will or yours?"

"I induced a bit of anger is all," Mard smirked. "And they're now at least four times stronger than they were."

"We'll see if that's enough!" I yelled as I turned to Jackal in his werewolf-esque form. "Thunder Devil's Rage!" the beam erupted toward him, but he dodged it handily and dashed up to me, knocking me away with the sheer velocity of his paws.

Next, before I could react, Kyoka was on me, slashing me with her new claws and then kicking me away into a clothesline from Torafuzar, his new armored body sure to give me a migraine later.

Though after that, I quickly burst up, unwilling to end this with me being crushed under Torafuzar's foot. I dashed forward. "Zeus' Wrath!" I yelled as I uppercutted the armored Etherius away, only to be whipped up by a small tornado with Tempester in the center, dashing from one chunk of building to another. I managed to steady myself and whip up a thundercloud dense enough to resist the tornado's vortex, but I was quickly knocked off of it by its creator, who then pinned me to the ground.

"Thunder Devil's Rage!" I yelled as the blast went off point blank into Tempester's face which, under normal circumstances, would've finished him off had he not been in his Etherius Form.

I stood, panting. I couldn't hold my position for long though, as Torafuzar attacked, quite swiftly for his size, and knocked me straight into a building near the one we were fighting in. I managed to catch myself and use my momentum to run along the wall for a short while before propelling myself back into Kyoka, who was hot on my tail, where I caught her mid-swing and propelled her into the very building that I was thrown into, using the opposite force to shoot me back into the fighting arena where I engaged Tempester, knocking him out of his tornado (thereby destroying it), and throwing him alongside Jackal. The two teamed up on me, attempting a pincer attack as I blocked both of their oncoming punches and using my Thunder Devil's Shockwave to force them both back.

I turned on Jackal, opting to attack him first by sweeping him off of his feet and attempting to cut him in two as I did Seilah, but instead I was knocked away by Torafuzar yet again, being caught by Tempester and then pounced on by Kyoka. With two of the four on me and the other two on their way, I released as much magic as I could spare and loosened their hold enough to slip out.

* * *

Lucy looked concerned. "He's…losing his foothold," she stated.

"Master, do you think he'll be strong enough?" Erza questioned.

"It doesn't matter," Makarov stated. "None of us could even touch these monsters, and his magic was created to combat them. I don't know if he'll be able to beat them, but he's Fairy Tail's last line of defense. If Inigo falls, then Fairy Tail will fall indefinitely."

* * *

I released my magic yet again to intimidate them.

"I've had enough!" I yelled, blasting Jackal, as he charged me, back away from me, dazed. As Torafuzar did the same from behind, I jumped over him and blasted him, taking advantage of his existing acceleration to push him as far as Jackal. I repeated the process for Tempester and Kyoka, with Mard also at the correct distance.

I shot my hand up into the air, my magic spiraling out more brilliantly than ever before as a solid circle of white lightning encompassed the building. With no escape route and the circle closing in, dragging the demons into the center, I leapt up into the air, forcing my hands out to the side before bring them to opposite diagonals with my chest, shifting until the palms were facing each other, and a small, incredibly dense sphere of magic formed in my hands. I rushed the spell, condensing far too early, but this time I used the excess to add to the power of the ring, which had by now drawn in the demons to be crushing each other, to do even more damage before I went into a freefall, the magic seeping behind me in a jagged trail. "Hell's Shining Judgement!" I yelled as I brought my hands forward, releasing the energy just as I reached the demons.

At first it just caused a small impact, which kept me above the ground, and the sound of a bass-drop, before suddenly a bright light shone and erupted through the building, the only things that were visible within being the silhouettes of me and the demons who were spiritually annihilated by the attack.

Fairy Tail yet again watched, this time dumb-founded. "Did he just…" Cana couldn't form the words.

"I think he did…" Elfman agreed.

"He combined Fairy Law and Fairy Glitter into one attack," Erza said, just as speechless.

I landed swiftly, about fifteen meters away from them, or rather what was left of them. Their demonic souls had been completely exorcised and absorbed into my being save for one of them. What was left of the others were empty husks; physical bodies for souls lost through battle. It was a waste of material.

However, I _did_ say one survived.

"Is that all that you've amounted to in all of these years?" Mard Geer questioned, stepping over his fallen brethren. "If so, then you're a waste of a Devil Slayer."

"The only reason you're still standing is because the second half of the attack never touched you."

"Yes, I know all about your little "Fairy Law" knock-off Brother, and I must say that I'm touched that you still think of me that way."

"Spare me, Brother; I don't need to be a priest to know that you don't have feelings like we humans do," Mard Geer frowned. "You said yourself that this wasn't a time to hold back, but you've been holding back this whole time, haven't you?"

Mard then changed his deep seated frown into a smirk. "Ah yes, my Etherius Form. I must say Brother, that I've been holding back to keep this entertaining. What I said before was true; without that demonic blade's sheer power, you can't possibly hope to match me," he claimed as he body was enveloped in a black energy, soon solidifying into a cocoon of sorts before pieces broke off like petals, revealing his true form. "Because while you've been toying about with humanity, I've spent every day making sure that the next time we met, I would crush you with nothing but a flick of my wrist!" his muscles flexed and the ground around us crumbled into a large crater, sending the building crumbling towards the center.

"Tch, then you truly are mistaken," I flexed my own muscles as I built power within myself. "With all of the harm you've caused; the lives you've ended, the souls you've reaped out of spite for your failures," my irises turned black. "I couldn't let myself lose, no matter if its costs me my arm, my life, or even my humanity!"

Another crater, this time forming around me, erupted as I rose into the sky, my skin peeling off to form a pale figure, my nails and teeth grew into claws and fangs, my hair extended into a sleek silvery mane, and bat-like, silky wings sprouted from my back.

My irises flickered in color, but as the form drew off of every horrible memory and effect of my actions I realized that I couldn't let my own moral compass hold it back. I let the demon within take over momentarily. I didn't stop powering up, every muscle within my body expanding, haphazard bolts of lightning protruding from my body rapidly. I kept growing stronger; stronger than the strongest dragon, stronger than any human; probably strong enough to kill every human in the country if I wanted to, but instead, I focused my anger; focused my grief over having failed in my mission to avenge Simon, failed to stop a madman from destroying the place I called home, and my failure of protecting my beloved and my guild, all of it focused into one entity; Mard Geer Tartarus.

With that thought driving the force behind my transformation, I landed to Mard Geer's shock.

"You…you're…him…"

"You're right…" I interrupted. "I don't have the Archenemy with me to defeat you, but the demon within is more than enough to deal with your trash."

Unfazed, we both rose into the air, using our wings to circle each other as a massive storm, inadvertently caused by me because of the transformation, whirled around us. Thunder was heard constantly as we rose close to the clouds, rain pelting our skin until a bolt of lightning struck in-between us.

We both dashed, much faster than the eye could see, and our fists collided, sending both of us back a good forty meters before we attacked once again. In one of these clashes, I feinted instead and then kicked Mard Geer away, flying after him and then pummeling him into Cube's ceiling, causing the entire thing to collapse under the pressure. Mard kicked me away from him and then shoved me into the wall, but I swiftly reversed his attack onto himself, forcing him away again.

We then met, locking our fingers together and releasing our power, neither of us giving an inch. The sheer pressure distorted the air around us as black spirals and white lighting burst from our forms, decimating our surroundings.

"I must say; I am impressed that you're able to achieve this level of power on your own, Brother. However, I've always excelled far beyond in one area."

"And what's that?"

"I'm always one step ahead of you!" he yelled as he twisted, sending me flying over his shoulder before following me up, punching me further up into the air. I then recovered and we met fists many more times, each creating massive shockwaves which extended into craters on the ground below us.

* * *

Most in Fairy Tail seemed shocked. "Even Gildarts with his Crash Magic can't do that…" Cana commented. "Even the Three Great Fairy Magics don't have this kind of power behind them, and this is just with their fists!"

"Yes," Makarov agreed. "Though it's quite tragic as well. For this kind of power to be unleashed in the world, what must these two have gone through? Sworn brothers who chose, despite what they were at their core, to become a family; a family torn asunder because of cruel fate or tragic coincidence, perhaps destined from the beginning to battle until one can no longer stand."

"It's only natural that Ash be angry; that demon bastard tried to kill us!"

"Perhaps…" Makarov contemplated. "Mard Geer Tartarus was honoring a debt by keeping us out of the way of his plans for mankind; he was…protecting us in his own sick kind of way. Whether Inigo sees this or even cares, I don't know."

With no more words to be said, Fairy Tail could only watch as the battle continued.

* * *

I managed to out-maneuver Mard Geer and get him into a hold, but he simply released his dark energy in a dense sphere around himself, pushing me away despite my efforts to hold on.

However, Mard didn't stop there. He grew frustrated and began releasing his magic in haphazard balls which shot out from every side of him, though all locked onto me. I broke into a free fall, using the momentum I gained to out-speed the projectiles before I noticed that Mard was coming straight for me. I just narrowly avoided his wild kick, with him narrowly avoiding the very projectiles he shot before following me, managing to catch up to me yet again and engage me in a high-speed combat, both of us knocking the other away repeatedly, none of us getting shot by his dark energy until I gained the upper hand.

I got into his blind spot and as he was looking around a flew at lightning-fast speeds, and, just as he noticed me and far faster than even he could react, I landed a precise strike which both dazed him and knocked his helmet clean off, revealing his normal face. As I flew past, the orbs of energy struck him as well, all of them condensing until they imploded onto him, knocking him clean out of the sky.

He landed with a crash, forming one of the last craters of the fight, and I moved with my lightning to appear behind him as he was looking for me. He took in a sharp breath as I held my hand up to the back of his head. "Impossible, you're…faster than me…?" he wondered in disbelief.

"You told me once that I was the first to make you feel joy in millennia. Tell me…do you think I could make you feel fear as well?"

"What?"

I shot a constant, concentrated surge of my lightning magic into Mard's body, making him scream and writhe in agony for several seconds. I'd finally done it.

I'd finally gotten Mard to his knees and I was going to make him pay for everything he did in spades. But strangely, I felt nothing, nothing except for one thing; the desire to hurt him more.

I ceased my torture just long enough for him to burst into the air and dash off to hide. I chuckled and put on a devilish grin. "Go ahead, run, but remember," I pinpointed him based on his dark energy and once again moved with my lightning to appear behind him. "I know where you'll go," I whispered in his ear before blasting him through the wall he was hiding behind and back into the room, but this time he recovered and flew away. "Yes, run! It makes it more fun for me!" I yelled up to him as I followed, catching up quite quickly and then swinging him around by his ankle, throwing him right into the side of a building adjacent to Cube.

We continued this cat-and-mouse chase for quite some time, and with each hit I landed, I made sure to crack another piece of his armor, until it had all but fallen off.

I knocked him down in front of Fairy Tail, forcing him into a wall and pinning him there with rings that bound his wrists and ankles to it. I leapt back. "I've beaten you, Mard Geer Tartarus; absorbed the souls of your comrades, and humiliated you, but you haven't suffered enough. You attempted to end my life with your ultimate curse, so how about I end yours with my ultimate spell?" I questioned as I put my hands together in front of me, forming an inconceivably dense magic sphere inside it, before splitting it into two, one for each hand, spreading my arms to the side, each magic circle letting loose a bright shine which spiraled out from the spheres.

"You can't…it's impossible to complete the spell with the power of a single Devil Slayer… Mard choked out.

"I've…made a few adjustments," I stated. "Now, prepare to die, Mard Geer Tartarus! Devil Slayer Secret Art: Shining Rose: Memento Lucem!" I smashed my wrists together, the spheres combining ever so briefly before exploding out in the form of a wide and yet concentrated beam of pure holy magic. Not zig-zagging like imperfect Thunder Devil Slayer techniques; this was just one beam, pure and unadulterated by human error; the perfect destruction spell.

The beam enveloped Mard, shooting far past him, until I could no longer sustain both it and the Demon's Echo form at the same time, and I released it, letting the onslaught end.

I didn't waste time, landing behind Mard gracefully, ready to attack and yet knowing that there wasn't any fight left in him. He collapsed onto his knees. "You…said it would kill me," he said.

I chuckled, my Demon's Echo form fading. "Yeah…I suppose you _are_ still my Brother, Mard Geer Tartarus," I formed two blades in my hands, my vision becoming misty and blotted. "But…you can't be allowed to run off on your own, hurting other people," I said, tears streaming down my cheeks.

"You Devil Slayers and your justice…fine, do it," he resigned himself to his fate. I twirled the blades to back hand and ran them through his stomach behind me, his gurgling becoming more revolting the more it went on. "Not enough," he choked out.

"Then perhaps this will," I suddenly got a massive spike in black magic to my left, and as I watched I saw Zeref, the most powerful of all wizards, shoot a blast of death magic my way. I knew I wouldn't be able to make it out of the way in time, but time itself seemed to stand still as Mard rushed in front of me, shielding me from the blast.

Time seemed to resume as he fell over. I kneeled over him. "Brother!" I cried, trying to find some way to save him. He only chuckled.

"You humans and your petty emotions…seem to have affected me somehow…" he choked out.

"Here, I can help, I can-"

"Spare me your sentiments," he said calmly. "This spell was used to turn us demons back into the Books of Zeref. It would've killed you, but…"

"You protected me."

"Please…kill me; I don't wish to die as simply a few pages," he begged.

"But…" I tried to counter his argument, but I made two more swords and plunged them through his heart and another through his head. I even exorcised his soul before it faded, being careful not to absorb it.

"Well, I'd say that plan backfired a bit," Zeref's voice broke me out of my stupor.

I stood, facing the Black Mage, with the rest of Fairy Tail now shielding me as well, including Natsu and Gray. "You…killed him…" I muttered. "He protected me and you killed him…"

"You were going to do the same, were you not?"

I clenched my fists. "Your plan failed; Mard didn't kill me like you said he would, and now all of Fairy Tail is going to destroy you!"

Zeref grinned. "Heheh…no they won't," he said. "They're scared. They won't move an inch."

My eyes darted around, and it seemed like he was right. Most of them seemed to be struggling in simply stand their ground, let alone launch an all-out attack. Had Zeref attacked, and especially if he killed, any one of us, I had no doubt that they would fight, but until he made the first move…

"As I thought," he frowned. "And for the record, my plans never fail; mine for you, Façade, is still in full motion. In fact," he whipped his hand up and a small bolt flew toward me, hitting me full-force in the chest…and yet not. I didn't feel anything.

"What'd you do?"

"I just…sped up the process," he smirked. "And Natsu," he turned to the Dragon Slayer. "I'll be seeing you again soon," he said before turning the other way and walking away from us.

Once he was out of sight, it seemed a massive weight was lifted from our shoulders. A silence formed between us, none of us knowing what to say, except for one question. "Is…is it over?"

Makarov sighed, explaining what everyone had been thinking. "Yes, it is. All of it."

"You mean…" I started, unable to form the words.

Makarov took a deep breath, looking around; everyone in Fairy Tail was present. "As of right now; the Wizard Guild known as Fairy Tail…is disbanded."

We all turned away, fighting back tears. "Nakama!" a voice cried from behind me. I turned around, tears just forming in my eyes, only to be embraced by Mirajane, having just recovered enough to reach us. She held me tightly, crying into my chest. "I thought you were going to leave me!"

I could only hug back and smile, tears falling from my eyes. I didn't say anything, just held her as tight as I could muster, repeatedly kissing her head, before everyone around us crowded, slowly forming a group hug, each with their own tears. I don't know if we were crying for joy for having everyone together again, or sadness that Fairy Tail was no more, or a combination, but I didn't care.

We were a family, and our tears fell as a family.

Makarov made one more decree in his time as Sixth Guild Master of Fairy Tail. He called a meeting for everyone to say their goodbyes as we each pursued our goals outside of the guild. For Lucy, it meant going to and trying to find a job as a reporter or writer, and for Natsu it meant trying to find Gildarts, travel with him, and get stronger. Each of us had a plan.

All of the members were able to make a small speech to everyone, and once the last one ended, we'd say our goodbyes and then…that was it. My speech was as follows:

I walk up to the small podium that we could find lying around and there was even a little microphone on it.

"Hey guys!" I began. "So…I know that a lot has happened since I was up and running, but, my biggest concern when I was bed-ridden was that something would come along that you'd need my help with. Something like Tartarus. When I was in that coma, when I remembered what was happening, all I thought about was you, and the fact that I didn't want to die, not to some idiotic illness. No, I'm not afraid to die, but I _am_ afraid to die ungraciously, without a purpose. I would gladly die if it meant saving this world, even this guild, because both are truly something special. If I'm ever asked why I fight so hard, with every ounce of emotion inside, it's because I fight for my family. A family that I chose to have and become a part of, where anyone will be accepted. I'd do anything for the family I've received and the world in which I can choose that family. Where my family can do whatever they want with their lives, unrestricted. Thank you."

A few claps were heard, a few more speeches for read and then everyone stood. I was standing next to Mirajane, holding her hand, when Makarov said those words; "Good luck to all of you; I'll always be watching over you," he said as he shot up Fairy Tail's symbol one last time, to which we all returned it.

When it was over, everyone started murmuring to themselves in a confused stupor. When should we just leave? When will be the truly final goodbye?

I turned to Mira. "Do you wanna head out?"

Mira nodded and smiled. "I never liked long goodbyes anyway," he said back before we walked away, waving goodbye to everyone before we did and getting hugs from everyone as well. We were on the train, going along the countryside. "So…do you have any ideas as to a place to stay?"

"Given that all I've got to my name is a small cottage in Magnolia and ten thousand Jewels, I'm not exactly planning a suite in Crocus," I said with a sigh.

"Hey, who said anything about a city? And who said anything about buying a home? No, no, I want a nice little manmade cottage maybe on the countryside or in a beautiful valley or something. Any ideas now?"

I looked outside, and out of the corner of my eye I saw a mountain, getting a hunch. "I have a few places in mind. Do you trust me?"

"With my life," she stated as I opened the window. We both jumped out onto a thundercloud and I flew us toward the top of the mountain that I saw, soon seeing that my hunch was correct. It seemed the volcano-looking behemoth of a location had a meadow crater at its top, heated by the magma which was sealed in, even during times of normal eruption. "I like it," she stated.

"Then let's not waste any time."

 **Author's Note:**

 **Yay...its finally over, well, not really. We've got about five more chapters left and then it's over.**

 **However, I will say this and not for spoilers, the purpose of the last five chapters is to set up the sequel. If you're happy with this ending, stop reading, but if not, keep reading; pretty simple if you ask me.**

 **But, uh, wow...I'd conceived this baby back when I was writing the Tenrou Island Arc, and to finally see it come to fruition is just incredible. Guys, we've come far, and I couldn't be more proud of this piece that you're willing reading and hopefully enjoying.**

 **I'm putting every ounce of my soul into this piece, so I'd really appreciate if you could give me an ounce of yours by leaving your two cents in the form a review, not to pry or anything. It would mean the world to me.**

 **Other than that, thank you so much for reading and I truly do hope that you'll enjoy the last five or so chapters and I'll see you guys next time.**


	55. 55 Will You Marry Me?

6 months later…

I plopped the last piece of wood down on the small cottage, finally completing it; yeah, it took me six months, shut up!

I stepped back and admired my work; it wasn't anything special to most, but to Mirajane and I, it was home; our new home; one that I planned to spend the rest of my life in, with my beloved.

I took a deep breath and turned toward an unfinished project of ours, with Mirajane kneeling down at. It was a pond, and Mira was finishing up the perimeter, placing rocks and stones ever so delicately. I leaned on the cottage, admiring her, a smile forming on my lips.

I stood straighter and walked over to her, not saying anything. I knelled down behind her and leaned over her, kissing her neck and cheek. She chuckled, turning slightly and pecking my lips. "Shouldn't you be working?" she wondered.

"It's all done," I told her as we stood, holding hands, and turning toward the cottage.

"It's beautiful," she hugged me. "Thank you so much!"

"You know, Mirajane, I've been thinking…about…us, and…" I didn't even know where to start. "I just…want to say so much, about…"

She smiled her beautiful smile. "About what?"

"About everything; us, our pasts, the future."

"The future…is too far off to talk about," she said. "Let's just experience it."

I nodded. "And how better to do that, than…"

"To link us forever," she finished, with us both hopping onto a newly-made thundercloud and down to the nearest town.

We went to all sorts of places, souvenir shops, pawn shops, magic shops, other…shops…before finally stopping at a place which sold basically everything. We were both looking for something for the other, but I had something else in mind when I was looking. I took a deep breath before sneaking off from her, leaving her to examine something in more detail, getting a clerk to help her, peeling off into the jewelry section, where I was drawn to the rings.

My eyes scanned the cases, searching for a perfect match for her. I looked long and hard, looking at each one in detail before finally landing on the absolute perfect ring I could find. It wasn't anything fancy, but its beauty was in its simplicity, a thinner, sterling silver ring, with a simple double-helix design leading to a small ebony gem, and within the gaps of the helix were gems alternating between turquoise and a deep sapphire color; exactly the color of her eyes.

I took a deep breath and called over the clerk. I pointed to it, and made a shushing motion, giving the message that this was a secret. After the sale was made, and the case was given, stuffed lightly into my back pocket before meeting Mirajane at the front, where she was waiting for me. "Find anything?" I asked.

"Nadda, you?"

"Not a thing," I lied.

So, we exited, moving onto another town nearby, known for its fabric. We entered many of the bigger stores but absolutely none of them felt genuine. Often a clerk with way too much money met us at the door, and we high-tailed it out of there right quick.

Finally we landed in another small shop, but that felt it was made from the ground-up as opposed to a processed feeling we got from the others.

We both got the chance to search around for a bit before the clerk got to us. "Hello there," she greeted. "How is this couple holding up?"

"How'd you know?"

"Oh, I have a knack for this sort of thing. And I trust that it will be a beautiful sight in the end," she assured, to which we both turned slightly pink. "Looking for anything in particular?"

"...Something special," Mirajane answered vaguely.

"Of course," the clerk scoured the shelves for a moment before pulling out two items, each identical to the other save for the colors: silver and ash gray. "Duality is the key to any relationship; opposites attract, after all," she offered them, and we tied them around our biceps, my left with the silver, and her right with the gray. "Whether it is man and woman, fire and water, light and darkness; you can't live without each other. _That_ is what I see in your future," the clerk claimed.

"It's...a bit lavish…" I commented.

"Well _I_ love it," Mirajane countered. "This way, we'll be connected."

"What the lady says goes; we'll take it," I said with a smile toward my beloved, the Jewels being exchanged and us walking out, holding hands. "Ready to go back? We got what we came here for."

Mirajane shook her head. "It's getting to be sunset, and I hear this town has a wonderful hillside."

I smirked. "Then what are we still doing here?" I wondered as we walked to the location, sitting leaning against the lone tree that stood at the top of said hill. The sun was just above the horizon. "Mirajane, I want to ask you something," I said as I reached for the ring in my back pocket. "I wanted to ask-"

"Sh…don't ruin the moment," she interrupted, simply staring at the view, a smile forming on her lips. I smiled in return, both of us leaning into the other. "Inigo…"

"Yeah?"

"…Don't let this end; I want to stay like this forever," she pleaded. "Please…"

"I will."

"Promise," she demanded, to which I nodded.

"Until the day I day, I'll stay with you, Mirajane Strauss, or should I say, if you'll allow it," I reached into my pocket and pulled out the case containing the ring. "Mirajane Asher?"

I heard a small gasp from her before she touched it.

"Mirajane Strauss, will you marry me?" I asked.

Tears were streaming from her eyes. "I…don't know what to say…" she choked out, sniffling.

"All it takes is one word," I returned softly.

"I…" she laughed a little. "Yes, yes, with all my heart; yes!" she dove into me, us falling backwards onto the grass, with me being the happiest man alive at having such a wonderful woman as a fiancé, soon to be wife. This would be the happiest moment of my life.

3 months later…

Rumbling were heard from the mountain which Mirajane and I dwelled, thunder cracked in the clouds above it seemed, though also seen were shockwaves. I rushed toward Mirajane, our fists colliding in the air at high speeds, forcing us both back.

We flew back, both of us in our respective forms, Satan Soul and Demon's Echo, and were sparring. It had become a daily routine, with both of us wanting to be prepared for the worst, not that we expected anything, well at least she wasn't expecting anything.

Even still, I coaxed her into the fights, and now it was my turn to deliver, giving her my all despite her being my fiancé. We'd decided on a date; the one-year anniversary of when Fairy Tail disbanded. It was a day we were both dreading, and this way it would be remembered happily rather than as a day of sorrow.

Our fists collided once again, and again and again, each time producing a small shockwave which caused a small booming sound to erupt into the countryside and most likely into the neighboring towns.

We were about to clash again, but we were interrupted. "I had a feeling I'd find you two up here!" a female voice came from below us, stopping our fists from hitting the other's face. I smirked when I saw her.

"It's been a while, Little Kagura!" I called down, releasing the Demon's Echo form and lowering us both on a thundercloud to the ground. "It's good to see you," I hugged her, before separating and flicking her forehead. She reared back, shocked. "You liar," I teased.

"I haven't told a single lie since we reunited," she retorted, either refusing to admit or not remembering.

"What about the one where you said you _weren't_ in the village when a horde of demons attacked?" I countered.

"I…must've returned to tend to the inn," she tried to salvage it. "And how do you even know that?"

I tapped on my head. "I had a little trip down memory lane," I said vaguely. "And unlike your sword skills, my memories are sharp and distinct."

"I don't think I like that last part, Igi," Kagura gripped the Archenemy, strapped to the back of her belt.

Mirajane separated us before we could tussle in the middle of the gardens, holding a hand up to each of us. Kagura noticed something on one hand. "A ring?" she wondered.

At first Mirajane looked confused, us having gotten used to it. "Oh yeah," I wrapped my arm around her hips. "We're engaged," I stated.

"Really?" was all she said, examining the two of us.

I frowned. "That's all I get?" I wondered jokingly.

"Sorry, just thinking. That's absolutely wonderful, Igi, though I do feel bad for Mirajane…" she teased, to which I tried to get her into a noogie.

"Why I oughta…" I soon gave up. "Whatever. Since you're here, you wanna come?"

"To the wedding? I'd be happy to. I'll see if I can contact Erza, and she will in turn contact the rest of former Fairy Tail."

I nodded. "That'd be great. Thank you."

Kagura continued to examine us. Before turning away. "Well, this was technically a job, to find out what the hell was making all the noise, and I'd say I've done it," she said as she began to walk off. "But now that I know where you are, I'll come visit you every once in a while," she waved us off before turning back, sniffling a little, perhaps to hold something in, reaching into her back pocket. "Oh yeah, and Erza said to give you this should I ever see you; she gave it to me a few months ago," she threw me the envelope before actually leaving, walking off. And then she said something I couldn't hear, nor could I see the tears coming down her face. "A perfect match…"

I was still smiling after her, not ever hearing her last three words that day, nor did it ever cross my mind that she wanted a life with me in it as well.

I then checked the letter. "From Erza…" I muttered, Mirajane and I looking intently at it as I opened it before I read it aloud.

Inigo Asher,

As you may or may not know, but I've been spending my time productively, taking down dark guilds that threaten innocence based on Jellal's tips as to their locations. Oftentimes though, at several guilds, I would be interrupted by a man with a hood.

Most of the time he would advise me to leave and then order guards to attack me before rushing in, but in my most recent attack I engaged him directly. He was strong, and used lightning magic; even knew me by name, Erza. In the engagement I got the better of him, managing to remove his hood, revealing who else's face but yours.

I didn't know what to make of this, but upon his identity, your identity, being revealed, he retreated. When I entered the dark guild to dispatched the members, I found s secret room contain a large amount of magic energy, all condensed into a single lacrima. When I read through the notes, I discovered the dark guild, under your orders, had been researching and replicating Satan Soul magic, Mirajane's if you couldn't remember.

I'm not sure what to make of this seeing as how I've know you for so long and then you'd do this, and I do pray that this is all someone framing you or simply a misunderstanding, I have to assume the worst. Inigo Asher, I'm going to find you, and I'm going to get answers, forcibly if I must. You'd better have proof when I do.

So I pray for innocence,

Erza Scarlet"

 **Author's Note:**

 **Is it just me, or is this chapter really short compared to the last one? Jokes aside, this is the final arc's beginning, so...yeah, it's not going to be very long, but I'll warn that it's going to be very dark, like...truly M rated dark stuff, so...just be ready for that.**

 **Anyway, thank you all for reading, I hope you're looking forward to the next chapter, and I'll see you guys in the next one! Don't forget to review!**


	56. 56 Inner Demon

I had my eyes closed, laying on the grass, feeling the cool breeze roll in and ruffle my jacket as well as the cloth now permanently attached to my arm; I never took it off because to do so would be to break mine and Mirajane's bond.

I took a deep breath and breathed out through my mouth, causing a faint whistling sound as the air was exhaled. "Circle Sword!" I heard called, forcing my adrenaline to kick in as I was blasted away and into the trunk of a tree. I lit up my magic and dashed forward, not even realizing who I was fighting. I stopped when I saw the flowing Scarlet.

"Erza?" I questioned, only now remembering her letter to me. I ceased fighting, though she didn't back down. "How'd you know where to find us?"

"Kagura told me," she said simply.

I sweat-dropped. "And I suppose you didn't say you were here to kill me, did you?"

"I said I'm here to get answers; if you paid even half attention, you'd remember that. You're not exactly helping your case, Asher," she tightened your stance.

"You said that you fought me, right? Well, by that point, I was still building our home, so…" I gestured to the cabin. However, Erza was always pretty stubborn. "Here, if you don't believe me, then believe my fiancé," I said nonchalantly as I walked past her, into the cabin.

"Fiancé?" Erza questioned as she followed.

Mirajane was busy reading a magazine that we picked up on our most recent trip to town. "Hey, nakama," I got her attention, causing her to stand and peck my lips. "We have a visitor with a question for you," I motioned to Titania at the door, still battle-ready.

Mirajane put her hands on her hips. "I'll have you know that weapons are strictly forbidden here," she claimed, which was a lie. "If you'll kindly put them away, you may ask whatever you want, Titania."

Erza shuffled on her feet briefly, muttering things about "crazy-knife-ladies" before willing her blades away, leaving her in her normal armor.

Mirajane then walked up to her and hugged her. "There, was that so hard? It's wonderful to see you again!"

"Yes, and you too," she returned half-heartedly before zeroing in on the issue. "I need you to vouch for Inigo. I have fought him at several dark guilds and he's been researching our magic, true or not?" she asked.

"Not true," Mirajane answered, showing the engagement ring. "He's been here, with me, the entire time since Fairy Tail has disbanded."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," she stated with a smile. "…I can tell you have more questions, so let's talk about it over lunch, okay?"

I cleared the table while Mirajane cooked. I moved the jar in which Mard Geer's soul was placed after I exorcised it. "You kept it," Erza said, deadpan.

"You wouldn't understand," was all I said on the subject.

"You're right," I handed her a drink. "I wouldn't."

Erza sipped on her glass of water which we offered. "So you're thinking that someone is framing me?" I questioned.

"That'd be my guess," Erza said. "My questions are why and how. How did he get your face?"

"Transformation magic?" Mirajane offered, turning her head into mine.

"Probably so. I can't think of any other way," I agreed. "You said he used lightning magic, right? Did it have any defining features? Color, texture, anything?"

"White and pure, like yours. It looked like your Devil Slayer Magic."

"That's impossible," I ruled that possibility out. "I'm the only Thunder Devil Slayer in the world, period."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

Erza sighed. "Well, if it's a fake, then they did a damn good job covering it up."

"Tell you what, take me on your next raid. I'm curious to see this imposter myself," I stated. "Do you mind?" I asked Mirajane.

"Not in the slightest, but be sure to kick his ass for me," she gave a thumbs up.

"Actually, I was on my way to one, if you'll come," Erza stated, to which I nodded.

"Let's go."

We came to a small guild hall, relative to former Fairy Tail's anyway. "Is this the place?" I questioned.

"According to Jellal, yes."

"Jeez, taking advice from that guy is still hard to swallow…" I muttered. "Hey, when are you two getting together anyway?" I eyed her playfully.

"W-what? I don't know what you're talking about," Erza turned away.

I chuckled. "Hey, don't feel jealous or anything, but your Edolas counterparts already sealed the deal. No rush or anything."

"Would you cut the chit-chat? I don't have time for that kind of talk!" Erza snapped, her cheeks rosy.

"You again," a voice came from above us. "How many times will you get in my way, Erza? You've already stopped me twice now."

"Twice?" she questioned. "I have no qualm with you, doppleganger. I only request that you don't use dark guilds to your advantage and that you cease to steal my friend's face," she reasoned.

"Steal?" he lowered his hood, revealing my face alright, but there was something off. "I think it's the other way around."

"He's missing an eye," I noted, remembering words spoken by Erza Knightwalker.

" _I took his eye, I guess in a kind of lesson or something for what he did to Fairy Tail._ "

"Inigo Dirge," I acknowledged him.

"Good, you're not lacking in perception like last time, kid," he smirked.

"You know him?" Erza questioned.

"My Edolas counterpart," I answered before speaking to him once again. "What's wrong? Did you come crawling to Earthland after Knightwalker straight up kicked your hide out of Edolas?" I mocked him, making him frown.

"We both know that Knightwalker exaggerates when it boosts her image," he countered. "Because I took something precious to her just as she did me, not that she would tell you. Last I heard, she didn't trust you as far as she could throw you."

I clenched my teeth. "What did you do?"

"Find out her deepest desire, and put two and two together," she egged me on. "Trust me, you'll meet her again soon enough."

I dashed toward him, knocking him away. I smirked at my apparent victory. "Don't think I've forgotten about the atrocities you've committed against the Strauss family, Dirge."

"Far from," he stated as he reached behind him, a blade forming out of thin air, not even from a magic, where he brought to point at me; an exact replica of the one he had last time we fought. "Nor have I forgotten my defeat at your hand, a defeat which shall be remedied after all of these years."

"I'll make you eat those words!" I called as I made my own blade and charged him, both of us clashing blades.

"Susanoo's Breath!" he yelled as the wave was released, which I quickly ate.

"I also hope you remember how your defeat went!" I locked his blade with mine and grabbed hold of its hilt, siphoning its magic power into my own, however, Dirge kicked me away before I could drain it completely. "A couple more rounds and I'll be beat you again."

Dirge only smirked before we engaged each other yet again. He feinted a swing before kicking me into the guild hall, where I was attacked by its members, though Erza soon took care of them. I clashed with Dirge once again. "And even if you beat me, what are you gonna do, kid? Kill me? Please, as if a fairy like you had the guts."

"I've killed for less," I warned, socking hm in the jaw, my fist imbued with magic. He stood straight and wiped him mouth of blood, smirking.

"Why thank you; another please," he mocked.

"What the hell happened to you?" I questioned. "And who the hell gave you that sword?"

"Tell you what, if you 'beat' me, I'll tell you…or I may not."

"I'm not in the mood for games!" I snapped, lightning up my magic yet again. "Thunder Devil's Flash!" I yelled, sending the bolt at him, but he simply absorbed it.

"As I thought; you're still a one-trick pony," he mocked me further, which prompted me to power up, releasing the Demon's Echo.

I dashed toward him and knocked his blade out his hands, letting loose a few swipes which nicked him a few times before knocking him over. I pointed my blade at him. "Still a one-trick pony?" I questioned. "Now, I know that you couldn't have made it here by yourself. Who brought you here?"

Dirge grinned. "Oh, it was no one important, just some guy in a black hood. Said I was your own, personal, inner demon and that it was time I kill you," he explained. "He remade my sword, and gave another trick," white lightning spiraled around him. "Thunder Devil's Rage!" he yelled, sending the blast from his mouth and blasting me away, giving him time to stand back up and run to the doorway. "I got what I needed from this garbage dump of a guild. Until next time, Asher!"

I looked around; we'd trashed the place, and Erza ransacking it for information didn't help the mess. The members were all unconscious, not a threat, but even still, this place was giving me bad vibes.

I decided to look a little further, soon finding a room in the basement which contained a whole bunch of desks and research machines. I looked on one of the desks and found notes, quickly combing through them. Erza soon met me here. I made my way over to another desk, this one holding several lacrima.

"Erza."

"What is it?"

I turned to her, holding up a red lacrima which gave off a particular magic energy. "This has your magic in it."

 **Author's Note:**

 **Before you call bullshit on Edolas people not having magic, it was never explored whether a lacrima could give them magic energy, so...yeah...**

 **Anyway, not much to say about this one, but thanks again for sticking around, three more chapters after this and one of them is the epilogue, so we're almost done!**

 **Don't forget to review!**


	57. 57 Saligia

After my initial encounter with Dirge, we returned to my home, informing Mirajane of the situation. "If your Edolas counterpart has your magic, who's to say he hasn't also replicated Anima and went back to Edolas?" she immediately brought up that possibility.

"That's exactly what I'm worried about. I'm going to go check on Edo-Fairy Tail and Mystogan to make sure they're prepared, just in case," I stated. I turned to Erza. "Let me know if anything else comes up, alright?"

Mirajane put her hand on my shoulder. "I'll come with you."

"No, Mirajane, you should stay."

"Last time you locked me out of Edolas, you know what happened," she insisted. "You were almost killed."

"But back then I wasn't expecting trouble, this time I'll be ready, I promise. Besides, what if Erza has a message and we're not here?"

Begrudgingly, she conceded, with Erza taking her leave and me heading off to Edolas.

After I arrived in the alternate world, I hopped onto a thundercloud and went to the capitol. As I approached, I noticed that it was looking a lot better, all things considered. The streets were clean and bustling, signs promoting vaccinations, volunteering, and job opportunities lined the city walls…but then there was also archers on the roofs.

"Shoot the traitor down!" they yelled when they saw me.

"Not this again!" I complained as I sped past them before they could even draw their bows. I headed straight for the palace and entered the King's chamber. When I saw the familiar blue hair, I breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, good. Nothing bad happened here," I said to myself before having lances shoved in my face. "Mystogan? It's me, Inigo."

"You have three seconds to return Erza Knightwalker or I'll have you gutted, traitor."

"What?" I questioned, quickly putting two and two together. "No, Mystogan that wasn't me. I'm being framed."

"…Explain."

"Dirge is in Earthland, he's been given all of my magic knowledge and I don't know how. I figured he also knew Anima and he might've come back, and apparently he did," I explained. After a moment, Mystogan ordered us alone. "I'm…sorry to hear about Knightwalker. What happened?"

"It was three months ago. We were asleep, Erza and I, when she suddenly screamed, reaching for her lance, but she never got it. She keeled over and was hoisted onto _his_ shoulder before I could react, and before I knew it, she was gone. I combed this entire world for her, but now I find out that she's beyond my reach," he said sadly. "I…" he didn't know what to say.

"I'll find her," I assured him. "Dirge is my enemy. I'll deal with him."

Mystogan nodded. "I'll put my faith in you, Inigo Asher."

I nodded back. "Hopefully it's not misplaced. Hey, listen, I need to check on Fairy Tail, alright?" I questioned. "They haven't disbanded, have they?"

"Not that I know of, why?" he questioned before I chuckled.

"No reason," On my way to finding said guild, I had a lot of time to think. "Guy in a black hood…" I thought back. "Zeref…" I muttered under my breath.

" _Said I was your own personal demon._ "

That was to direct a comparison to be coincidence. Did Zeref really think Dirge was an ultimate weapon against me? I already beat him once, sorry, twice now, and he thought that he'd be the one to kill me? No, it couldn't be; the most evil and powerful of all wizards couldn't possibly be that stupid. It must be a mistake.

Even still, if this was Zeref's ultimate plan, then it'd be no problem. I'd beat Dirge again, send his sorry ass back to Edolas' deepest prison, and I'd be able to live without this nagging fear of Zeref's empty threats in the back of my head.

It was around this point in thought that I spotted the familiar symbol of Fairy Tail. I landed and smirked. "Good, Dirge hasn't found…" I stopped halfway, noticing the tears in the banner upon closer inspection, along with the burn marks on the tree. I dashed inside. "Hey!" I called out to someone, anyone, but upon entering the building, it looked abandoned; not a soul to be seen. I clenched my teeth. "Damn it!" I bashed my fist on the wall. "He beat me to them!"

I quickly exited the building and made a small portal for me to return into, racing back to mine and Mirajane's home, only to find a massive brawl taking place in the sky around it.

I quickly joined the fray, soon finding that it was Kagura, who had come most likely from the noise, and Mirajane fighting against Inigo Dirge. I knocked him away as he was charging toward the former on the ground. "You're on my turf, asshole," I threatened him. "Tell me where Knightwalker and Edo-Fairy Tail are," I demanded.

"Haven't heard from them," he feigned innocence. "Last I checked they despised me."

"For good reason, now where did you take them!" I yelled, dashing toward Dirge and forcing him into the trunk of a tree.

"Thunder Devil's Flash!" he shot the bolt at me, sending me flying away before retreating on a thundercloud, eating some of his lightning from his sword as he did. It was strange, he it was as if the sword were amplifying the magic power and then gave the amplified power back to him to eat. With that kind of growth, he could become infinitely powerful, given the chance. I had to get that sword away from him.

I followed him across several miles, trying to reach out telepathically to anyone, the first people crossing my mind in my adrenaline being the two previously fighting and Erza. "Erza!" I called.

" _What? Is it Dirge?_ "

"You're damn right it's Dirge! I need backup, now! Get everyone you can get a hold of!" I demanded.

" _On my way, Jellal with contact former Fairy Tail and they'll come help. Send us your location,_ " she requested.

"Kinda busy here!" I stated as I shot a bolt at Dirge, who retaliated tenfold, forcing me to halt for a moment to deflect the homing bolts he sent. He then flew off laughing as I struggled to follow after losing so much ground. I eventually followed him to yet another guild headquarters, this one looking rather large and yet completely abandoned. It was even located in the middle of a barren wasteland, surrounded only by dead trees and rock formations as far as the eye could see.

I landed and ran in after Dirge, only to come to a large, open room. "Do you find it strange, Asher?" his voice echoed throughout the darkened room, making it difficult to make out where it was coming from. "You must've actually thought you were safe."

"Show yourself!"

"Patience, Asher. I know it isn't our strong suit…eh, who am I kidding? I waited eight years to finally have my revenge. But in brutal honesty, you must realize that any who share our blood are destined to combat each other, right?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Any who share the devil's blood. You, me, and any other demon you've ever faced," he listed them off.

"You're not even a Devil Slayer! What gives you the right to compare us when we're not even in the same league?"

"Oh, but I am. You know it too, Asher. Sure, it took a lacrima for me, but it also, from what I heard, took a book of the Black Arts for you. Neither of us are truly natural in our magic."

"But unlike you, I refused to see it as a Black Art; it's a gift bestowed to give hope. Demons have roamed this world, evoking fear when their names are spoken, even the 'monster under the bed' haunts children in the dreams, real or not. This magic was made to shine light."

"Light and dark are subjective, Asher. A light can be as illuminating as another is blinding, and which one is which is to the eye of the beholder," he argued. "Even my thick head on your body must realize that."

"Would you _stop_ acting like we're the same person?"

"But we are," his voice appeared right behind me. "We're both monsters," he whispered in my ear before blasting me away in a shower of lightning, briefly illuminating the area.

I turned back toward him fast enough to block a Thunder Devil's Flash, which spread all across the room and catching on basically everything, filling it with fire and light.

I looked around, seeing not just Dirge, but all of Edo-Fairy Tail and Erza Knightwalker, standing at the edge of the room. Not bound in any way either, just standing there. I almost breathed a sigh of relief, but I hesitated, sensing something was wrong. "What did you do to them?"

Dirge shrugged. "Nothing much, just the usual when you're smart; I got rid of human error."

"What does that-" I didn't get to finish, as Edo-Mira, wielding her Earthland counterpart's magic, charged toward me within Satan Soul. I took all I had to keep my footing from the sudden assault.

Dirge laughed. "Consider a forced Takeover! Hahaha!"

The Edolas denizens began advancing, each lighting up their Earthland counterpart's exact magic, save for accommodations with their skillsets, like Knightwalker Requipped lances instead of armors.

I closed my eyes briefly. "Forgive me…" I muttered before letting go, Edo-Mira falling into me, where I shot her behind me. I shot up and lit up my magic. "But I can't lose this fight!"

I made a break for Dirge, who didn't look to be ready for fighting, but instead I was intercepted by Dragion, who forced me into a brawl with Edo-Cana and Elfman. I managed to escape them before being ganged up on by Edo-Wendy, who blasted me into an attack by Surge. I gritted my teeth as I stood, swiftly deflecting a dark blast by Edo-Mira before turning once again on Dirge, who was now sitting down! The nerve!

"Thunder Devil's Fla-" I tried to attack, but I was knocked onto my stomach by Knightwalker, who then attempted to run me through with her spear, but I caught it, struggling to keep it from my chest. "Snap out of it!" I yelled as her, to no response. "What happened to the fearless Fairy Hunter?!" Despite her eyebrows lifting slightly, there was no response, and she continued pressing. As the blade drew nearer, I noticed something on her hand. "A ring…?"

I couldn't dwell on it long though, and I diverted the spear to stab the ground below me, before a flung a fist toward her, which she caught.

"Thunder Devil's-" I once again wasn't able to finish the spell, but this time it was good. Knightwalker was kicked off of me. "Kagura!" I exclaimed as I tried to stand, but she pushed me back down.

Erza, our Erza that is, then leapt to us donning her Adamantine Armor, holding her shield to the sky as Mirajane, once again ours, shot down her Soul Extinction spell, which deflected off of the shield in every direction, pushing back the oncoming adversaries.

Once the immediate threat was gone, the four of us stood facing them. "It took you long enough," I muttered.

Dirge looked annoyed, standing once again. "So I might have to get involved after all. Fine, I was expecting Asher to bring his harem anyway. In fact, this way I can get results now."

"What are you talking about?"

"Just a little experiment. I've noticed these annoying little markings that appear as our magic is used. I'm sure you have too."

"What about them?"

"Well, here's the thing; I'm curious. Curious as to what would happen should they reach their fruition."

"You're insane. If either of us do that, then the results could be catastrophic."

"That's the idea."

"Fool!" Erza stepped forward. "Release the people of Edolas!"

"Not gonna happen."

"If you're so curious, then why not do it yourself?" Kagura questioned.

"How about because I'm not an idiot? I mean, perhaps, should the markings extend all the way, your heart could simply stop because of the pressure. That wouldn't do at all, and yet this curiosity is unbearable! And besides, who I defeat you here, I'll have nothing more to gain in Earthland, and as such I'll return to Edolas and take what's rightfully mine, the entirety of the kingdom under my foot!"

"Not if we stop you here and now!"

We all charged toward our enemy, the other three clearing a path for me to directly confront Dirge, clashing blades once again, this time with me knocking him out of the room.

"Thunder Devil's Flash!" I shot the bolt at him, but his blade simply absorbed it, and in turn he absorbed the amplified energy directly, retaliating in a fraction of a second with twice the firepower.

I dodged the attack and charged him, opting instead to fight him straight. I launched a flurry attacks toward him, but he wasn't giving an inch, once again forcing me back. In frustration, I shot a Thunder Devil's Rage toward him, but he once again absorbed its after its amplification.

This continued for a long while before we were interrupted. Edo-Mira crashed through the hole we left, meeting my fist once again. Though I didn't have to retaliate, as our Mira also burst through got her off of my hide soon after, pushing her back to the brawl.

In the distraction, Dirge once again retreated into the shadows. I took a stance, ready to face him. "Foolish Fairy…you don't honestly think that you and your harem could possibly defeat all of us."

"I'd bet my life on it!" I countered, though Dirge, having appeared behind me, blasted me after right after.

"I wouldn't bet my life so easily, Asher," he warned. "I swear by the end of the day, you'll be dead or worse."

"If I die today, I'm taking you with me," I vowed, releasing my magic in the form of massive streaks of lightning, which Dirge absorbed through his sword once again, but I knew where he was, and I charged him. However, he was faster this time because of the magic boost. "Except that I won't die! My friends will give me the strength to beat you! Friends are what separate us, Dirge. The reason you'll never beat me if because you gave up your comrades for blind and arrogant power!"

He quickly knocked me away. "When you die today, it'll be alone!" he snapped. "And _before_ you die, I'm going to break you!" he launched an assault towards me, forcing me back. "I'm going to take away everything you hold dear, make your loved ones suffer in the worst way imaginable. I'm going to murder whatever family you may think you have! And only _then_ will you be able to feel a fraction of what I've gone through!" He launched double fists toward my stomach, blasting me back into the main room, where Edo-Cana and Natsu ganged up on me.

Once I forced them off of me, I quickly surveyed my surroundings. Both Erza and Kagura were beaten, knocked into magic chains on the wall. I dashed toward Erza and raised my blade to break her bonds and get her to safety, but I was knocked away by her counterpart.

I landed back on my feet briefly before Edo-Mira and Gray were on me, soon knocking me back to the ground and holding me there as Mirajane was beaten, knocked into similar magic chains. Dirge walked up to the three of them, stopping at each one and checking their pulse, the extent of the injuries, etc.

"Such a shame," he said, deadpan. "To waste so much magic on a couple of corpses."

"Don't touch them!" I yelled.

"Spare me, Asher. You're pinned to the ground by the very people you claim to rely on," he waved me off, walking toward Erza. "Knightwalker told me about you, before I turned her brain to putty that is," he spoke to her. "She told me how you were fearless, a paragon of righteousness. However, fearless doesn't exist, and she also told what happened to you in Edolas. All of it, and I've come prepared," he reached above her, grabbing a tube which he attached to right above her breasts. He then flipped a switch, and then a bright pink glow illuminated the tube, transferring to Erza, making her writhe and scream in agony. He was draining her magic power forcibly. "You fear something, and after a little digging, I know that you fear being helpless, too weak to help yourself."

"Stop!" I demanded. "You can't!"

"All you need to do is agree to my request," Dirge said calmly, barely acknowledging me.

"Don't do it, Inigo!" Kagura warned me. "Erza can take this," she assured.

Dirge chuckled, moving onto my little sister. "The little helpless girl, acting strong to impress, as usual," he mocked her, stroking her chin, which she yanked away. Annoyed, he back-handed her.

"Don't touch me, monster, or else," she threatened.

"Or else what, exactly?" Dirge retorted, getting no response, just a glare. "Look around you, little girl. You're brother has lost, your comrades are facing death's door, and you are about to be reminded of your insolence," he chuckled once again. "Then again, judging from those idiotic Games, you never know when to give up, too prideful. Instead you would choose to take the heat, suffer more than necessary. I think it's time you know who the hell you're fucking with!" he, without warning, thrust his sword into her abdomen, almost exactly where I had stabbed her during the Grand Magic Games.

"No! Please!" I cried out. "Stop it, Dirge, please!" I begged.

Kagura cried out, but then quickly bit her tongue, not wanting to give Dirge the satisfaction, until he started twisting the blade. Finally, Kagura let out a blood-curdling scream matching Erza's constant once again, soon receding to agonized moans as Dirge moved on, leaving the blade in her stomach.

"Oh, does it hurt? Good, is the pain you remember? Does it match even a fraction of the pain of loss you feel every day? To be replaced by your own brother? Even Asher, in his thick-headedness, saw how useless you are, and left you for good, even for _Fairy Tail_."

"Don't…" Mirajane muttered. "Bad mouth…Fairy Tail…" she struggled out.

"Oh? And who are you to tell me that, trash?" he questioned, crossing his arms.

"Please, no…" I begged quietly.

"But what should I do to you, She-Devil?" he questioned. "What would make _him_ suffer the most. Perhaps I should be spiteful," he grabbed her head and poised his thumbs. "And take eye, make you match your counterpart! Hell, I should just take both for good measure!" he threatened before he slowly backed off. "Not afraid of pain I see. No, you're not like the other two; weak, spineless, soft. No, you require a different treatment," he relaxed his muscles and unbuttoned his shirt. "And I think I know exactly what I'm gonna do."

"You wouldn't…" I couldn't believe what I was seeing. "Dirge, please!"

"Don't let him look away," was all he said before my prison-keepers forced me to watch and he began feeling her figure up and down, groping her before grabbing hold of her shirt and ripped most of it off with one single tug. "Tell me, Mirajane Asher, did he ever touch you like this?" he whispered in her ear before ripping the rest of her clothes off, beginning to kiss her neck, her cheeks…her lips…

"Stop it now!" I yelled, drawing from magic I didn't have, being pushed far beyond my breaking point. I finally got them off. "I said stop!" I released all of my magic power, shaking the building.

"Then do it!" he yelled, frustrated.

Gritting my teeth, and with the mob about to attack once again, I shot out my magic power, not releasing it, but shooting it out and using it up. I entered my Demon's Echo form, causing a blinding white light to be released meters out from me.

Suddenly, behind me, the doors burst open, revealing everyone who was contacted via Erza and Jellal, who was also here, but I was through. "Ash, we're here, we-" Natsu began before seeing everything that was happening. "Ash…"

I continued using up all of my magic power, the Demon's Echo form seemingly ripping off my body, peeling off like a snake's molt. My markings shot across my body, down my legs, across my arms, and they finally went up my neck, onto my face, and into my eyes, consuming them into nothing but black voids.

However, instead of my heart stopping or just running out of magic power, I powered up, but not of my own will. My body was no longer under my control as my voice distorted into a different one, my hair growing down my back, changing to a somehow sickly-looking silver color.

I saw inside of myself, my soul, reaching into it an drawing from places I never wanted to until everything just…stopped. My vision was fading, my body no longer mine, but instead belonging to this…thing. All I could feel anymore was numbness and illness from being in the presence of such irrefutable evil.

On the outside, the light dispersed in a gust of wind and what was left looked like an altered form of me, during the Demon's Echo, complete with the claws and fangs and wings. Instead of toning my muscles, this thing was sleek and lean, almost sickly thin. Its skin was pure white, though most of it was the radiating of a white glow from underneath the skin and perhaps signifying my lightning. My body opened its eyes, now just black sphere inside the sockets, glaring at Dirge, who looked confused, if not unnerved.

Then he chuckled. "Finally, I see what the true final form of Devil Slayer Magic is. Now I can-" he stepped forward but, not even in the speed of a flash, my body was in front of him, looking as if it had grown a foot taller in the time it took for him to move, his muscles then expanding to be intimidating. There was no longer a glare directed at Dirge, but instead a bank, brain-dead expression. "Hey, Asher, are you…can you even hear me, Fairy?"

My eyebrow twitched slightly, before there was a pause, and then, slowly, a grin formed on my face, looking down maliciously at Dirge. Then there was a hand around Dirge's neck, lifting him up three feet off the ground. Dirge looked shocked by this flailing around for a moment before blasting my body with everything he had in terms of Devil Slayer Magic, but it didn't so much as cause my body to shift, take a step back. I didn't even have to brace myself for the attacks; it was as if they went through me.

Finally, when everything had been expended, my hand squeezed, and then there was snap, and Inigo Dirge ceased twitching. My body released Dirge, looking down on him as he lay there, lifeless. With Dirge dead, the Edolas mages fell to the ground, unconscious but alive.

Quietly at first, but then growing louder, laughter was heard before I erupted into a maniacal cackle as my body spread its arms, a sick grin spread across my face.

"Finally!" the new voice called to the voice, its voice booming an primordial in nature. "How long has it been since I have seen the death of man?!" the grin faded into a frowned as its hair fell over its eyes.

"Inigo!" Natsu called from behind, the rest of the rescue party following behind as he came up closer. "Are you okay, man?"

"Inigo?" it wondered. "Inigo Asher…is dead," it turned to them, grinning once again. "Or soon will be…right…here," it pointed to where its heart would be.

"You're sayin'…" Natsu and the others looked ready for a fight. "Who the hell are you?"

"Now," it ignored him. "Is the time for a return to reform. A return to absolute chaos! Where death and famine run rampant! Where law is lawless! Where man will carve its own demise slowly, one drop of blood at a time while watch from above like a god of anarchy, slowly viewing the fall humanity and of the rest of Earthland with it!" it rose up into the air. "You asked me who I am, mortal. I shall let you live for one reason and one reason only. To spread knowledge to your fellow chess pieces that I have returned stronger than ever. I am vice! I am sin! I am all that humanity loathes! I am the Demon King: Saligia!"


	58. 58 My Story

I awoke in a black void, not floating, but instead standing on invisible ground. "Where…?" I wondered, trying to recollect what happened.

"We're in your heart," a voice came from behind me. I whirled around, only to see a while outline and blank white eyes of a vaguely humanoid figure. The figure was grinning. "Or rather, _our_ heart."

"Who are you? What are you talking about?"

"My child, I'm sure you know, deep down, who I am."

"You're…" I wracked my brain. "S…"

"Yes, continue…"

"Sal…Saligia," I said. "But…I don't know…"

"Tisk, tisk, Devil Slayer. Surely you must've heard of me in your history lessons, or have they erased my existence completely?" it questioned.

"Shut it with the games; who are you?"

"I am the Demon, the Original Demon," he stated. "Saligia is the name they gave me."

"Who are 'they'?"

"You mortals and your questions…" he sighed falsely as the figure formed flesh, soon taking the appearance of me during the Demon's Echo, save for the eyes which remained white and blank.

"Mortal? What are you, some kinda god or something?"

"God? God is an ant to me; powerless to stop the chaos I instill. Now, behold Devil Slayer," the black void was seemingly sucked away, revealing a scene of fire and brimstone, real wrath of God type stuff if you know what I mean. "And join me on this journey of an era; the era of the demon."

"Where are…?" I didn't finish my question, soon hearing the familiar and yet otherworldly roars from above. I looked up, seeing thousands upon thousands of dragons roaming the sky, except they weren't roaming; they were at war with each other. Then, there were roars coming from my left, and when I looked, I saw a large group of humans, all wielding different elemental magic, and confronting around ten dragons of their own, with several more groups of humans doing the same thing. They looked as if wanting to trample me, but they all went right through me and attacked the dragon, actually damaging it with powerful strikes. "Dragon Slayers," I noted. "But why are we here?" I wondered, getting no response, and when I turned to Saligia, it was nowhere to be found, but then I was blasted away with such force that I nearly passed out. I rolled back up to my feet, ready for a fight. "What the hell was that?!" I demanded.

"You will die here, if you're lucky, Inigo Asher," it stated as it charged toward me. It met with a blade I created from my magic, and it took everything I had to hold it back, and while I did, it continued the story. "Tell me what you see."

"There's…dragons fighting each other everywhere, and humans fighting dragons too…we're standing 500 years ago, during the Dragon Civil War, aren't we?" I questioned.

"You mortals still have functioning brains after all," he forced me back and blasted me away. "And yet, what don't you see?"

"I don't know," I said, to which he shot another blast at me, which I just barely was able to deflect. "I don't know! Uh, demons?"

"Wrong answer!" it moved faster than I could see and punched me in the gut, damn near punching a hole right through me. "Look again!"

"Just tell me!" I yelled back, to which it knocked me back into a building, which, unlike the humans, I could run into.

"There is no evil within the humans! Not yet! They're fighting for their lives, too stupid and ignorant to fight for anything else!" it yelled. "But then," a lone human walked up to a group, not wielding any kind of magic that I could see, spoke a few words and then watched as the humans turned to one of the dragons fighting for them and then murdered it cold, bathing in its blood before doing the same for many others. "A single mortal took the fall for humanity, plunging it into an ever-cyclical wave of chaos and betrayal, forcing humanity to turn on itself again and again, to turn on others again and again."

"You…" I realized as I pointed at it. "You were here, you were the ones who convinced the Dragon Slayers to turn on their allies! It was you!"

"Correct again, mortal," it acknowledged before the scene faded into black once again. With the playing field clear, I took to the offensive, blasting Saligia with wave after wave of my magic, though it seemed as if it wasn't doing any good.

"I need more firepower…" I muttered, trying to activate the Demon's Echo, but ti wasn't working. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't use it.

"Confused?" it wondered, appearing right in front of me before I blasted it with my magic and leaping away. "You refuse to think yet again! Think!" it yelled, its voice echoing loudly through the endless abyss.

"What?"

"What Demon did you assume you were echoing when relying on that power?" it questioned.

Frustrated, I dashed forward, swiping deftly with two blades which should've been able to run right through Saligia, being a Demon and all, but when I finally got a good shot and I attempted to run it through, the blade shattered.

"You thought your twigs could defeat me?"

"My magic was _made_ to destroy you, Saligia!" I countered, forming more blades and attacking, with us getting into an intense brawl. Suddenly, I felt a familiar dark presence to my side and leapt back as they pounced. My eyes widened as I saw who it was. "Seilah?"

She didn't waste any time, charging toward m blindly as swiping blindly at e, tears streaming from her eyes, loose stiches keeping her top half and her bottom half together. "You killed me! I hate you! I'm going to kill you ten times more!" she screamed.

As we brawled, Saligia watched and explained. "As I said, this is our heart, and I _am_ the Original Demon. Every demon that came after, artificial or natural, owe their strength and appearance and very soul to me."

"So you mean…?"

"Where do you suppose the Demon's Curses come from?" it asked as a shadow loomed over Seilah and I, and I barely rolled out of the way of another old friend; Torafuzar, soon being attacked by three more, the demon used for Mirajane's Sitri spell, Kyoka, and one I didn't know. I was soon blasted away. I stood quickly, being ready for a follow up, but instead I saw a horde of demons, not just a dozen or so, but thousands, surrounding me. "Every demon that has ever lived resides somewhere in vacuum of my heart. They sense your presence, just as you sense theirs, Devil Slayer, and they've come for your blood."

I tightened my stance, steeling myself for the onslaught to come as the scene changed once again.

After Saligia had left with my body, Natsu and the others rushed toward the three captives and freed them from their bonds, with Wendy immediately going to work healing them, despite being now from the Lamia Scale Guild. Soon, Kagura and Erza were back up to fighting shape, though mentally they were quite unstable, however, in that category, Mirajane was far worse off.

Natsu stood. "Where are you going?" Elfman wondered.

"I'm getting Ash back," he stated, his eyes filled with determination.

"You can't; that thing's a demon. We should wait for Gray to come," Cana suggested, but Erza shook her head.

"Gray…isn't coming…" she said quietly, her entire body shaking.

"Well, there goes my idea," Cana muttered.

Jellal stepped forward. "I'll go too. I owe that man my life at the very least," he stated. "Natsu Dragneel, Crime Sorcière is with you," he assured, to which the others of the Independent Guild nodded.

"And so am I," Elfman agreed. "I wouldn't be much of a man if I didn't."

"I won't lose my drinking partner _that_ easily," Cana said. Soon, the others of former Fairy Tail nodded their agreement.

"Then let's get our friend back!"

It didn't take long to catch up to Saligia, as he was taking his time, relishing in being alive again, but not for long. "Get back here, you bastard!" Natsu yelled, being carried by Happy, intercepting the Original Demon. The shock of being attacked caused him to be forced back by the attack. Elfman then came from above and smashed the demon to the ground.

Saligia picked itself up. "Talk about a bother, to be plucked from the sky by fleas," it said boredly as everyone surrounded it. "I hope you've spread my message, mortals."

"No need, because you're going to die right here and now!" Jellal claimed, sending Crime Sorcière after it. However, he deftly dodged all of their attacks, grabbed Midnight by his cloak and threw him into Cobra, knocking them far away. Former Fairy Tail then joined in the assault, bombarding it with all different types of magic, Natsu being at the forefront of the brawl, throwing roars and wing attacks toward the Demon King at such intensities that it would have destroyed all of Tenrou Island.

Suddenly, Saligia retaliated, clean decimating the mages with a single swipe of his claws, gashing their chests even from forty feet away with the shockwaves of the attack, and taking them out of the fight. Now, it was only Jellal, Natsu, Elfman, Cobra, and a few others fighting.

Natsu dashed forward, activating Lightning Fire Dragon Mode, and let off a devastating Lightning Fire Dragon's Roar, but as the dust cleared, Saligia remained unharmed. In fact, it laughed at the effort before blasting him away into the trunk of a tree, dashing toward him and pounding his face in the dirt. Elfman rushed to help, bashing Saligia away, though he soon received the same treatment. He tried to use his Beat Soul in all its different forms, but none of them made a difference, in fact, one of them seemed to anger Saligia.

It caught Elfman's fist while Beast Soul was activated and then stopped to examine it. "Ah yes," it said finally. "I remember this image, or rather, he remembers it," Saligia twisted, and snapped Elfman's arm as if it was butter. "And I can give you a taste of how he felt about you, truly within his heart," it walked toward Elfman, too injured to continue fighting, and grabbed his neck, lifting him up as he did Dirge. "Does it hurt, because this is how he felt when you murdered one of the women he loved."

"I…" Elfman choked out.

"Silence!" Saligia squeezed and there was another snap before it dropped Elfman's corpse. "Trash like you has no right to live, let alone speak."

Natsu and the others finally picked themselves up, only to see what had happened, and they were completely furious. Natsu burst forward yet again, and sent a devastating kick to Saligia's arm, which actually broke like a normal human's, but it didn't seem to affect it.

"I don't think you mortals realize who's body this is."

"What are you talking about, you monster?"

"Your _friend's_ body is what you're fighting, not mine. Any damage you inflict on me will only be dealt to him,' it explained.

"Bastard!"

Natsu powered up to his Dragon Force and ran forward, followed by Jellal using Meteor and Sema and Altaris and his other most powerful spells. The same went for the others, pounding Saligia with everything they had, but it just wasn't enough. Saligia wasn't even fazed, just cracked a devilish grin and began its counterattack.

I had finally gotten some ground against the army of demons, and I gathered my magic, pinpointing onto Saligia, and forming an impossibly dense sphere of magic within my hands, separating my hands with one sphere in each. "Devil Slayer Secret Art: Shining Rose: Memento Lucem!" I yelled, slamming my hands together, but instead of firing he attack, my right arm snapped for no reason, the spell still went off, though I was quickly spinning out of control, the spell firing every which way, taking out a good chunk of the army, but they weren't who I was aiming for. Once the spell stopped firing, I stood, holding my now broken arm. "What the hell?" I wondered, picking myself up.

Saligia laughed. "Any damage inflicted on me in the real world will simply be transferred to you," visions appeared in my head on Saligia saying something very similar to Natsu and the others who were fighting. I then witnessed the complete massacre of my friends, Natsu being demolished with several impossibly powerful punches and Jellal being taken down with a few energy blasts which also took out most of Crime Sorcière.

"Don't touch them, you bastard!" I yelled, dashing through the demon horde and attacking Saligia with my free arm, though I was quickly blasted away.

Saligia laughed. "Go ahead, little Devil Slayer, keeping fighting on, it's far more fun if you actually think you'll win! Hahaha!" its laugh faded to a simple grin. "But let's continue our story, shall we?"

The scene, the forest that is, continued, revealing around seven or eight humans gathering around Saligia.

"A memory I'd rather be gone," it stated. "It took humanity strongest to not only invent a new magic to combat those who'd follow in my footsteps, but it took all those who practiced it to simply seal me," it explained.

The eight people battled Saligia in the memory, flinging Devil Slayer spells of all kinds of varieties, finally starting to weaken him with some Secret Art spells. Finally, they gathered around each other and took their hands, forming a portion of the outer edge of a magic circle. With all eight doing it, the circle was complete. "Devil Slayer Secret Art: Shining Rose: Memento Vivere!" they yelled as the spell was fired off at the Demon King. The spell didn't damage it as much as it did trap it into a sphere of light, which quickly corroded because of its evil into a black void. The strongest of the ancient Devil Slayers split the sphere into eight smaller portions and each one entered a different Devil Slayer.

"Are you beginning to put the picture together, Devil Slayer?"

"You…the Devil Slayer's couldn't kill you…because you're immortal. They sealed you inside of the magic, inside of Devil Slayer Magic."

"Which is why what?"

"That's why you were released; I broke the seal…" I muttered, gritting my teeth. "It's my fault…and I can't beat you by myself, can I…?"

"Finally, you're beginning to face reality," it grinned and dashed toward me, pounding me away into a tree. It then walked calmly up to me, grabbing me by the hair. "You're going to die here, Inigo Asher. You're going to die know that you are the one who doomed humanity to oblivion," it whispered in my ear before pulverizing me.

Saligia looked around, its amusement with the mages quickly fading as they were all down for the count, even Natsu and Jellal. Disappointed with the lack of challenge, it began rising using its wings.

"Stop!" a voice called after it. It turned around to see Erza, Kagura, and Mirajane, standing up to the Demon King. "Give Inigo his body back!"

Saligia scoffed. "And what shall you do if I-" Kagura burst forward, unsheathed the Archenemy, and swung downwards, the shockwave forcing it to the ground. "…Well, that's embarrassing," it mumbled as it stood. "I suppose I'll have to be rid of you, along with that sword."

Erza and Mirajane assumed their respective ultimate forms and took on Saligia, with Kagura following close behind. It was strange, but sometimes, it seemed as if Saligia was letting them hit it.

"Hm…it seems that a portion of the Devil Slayer still resides within this vessel…" it muttered to itself before blasting them away, going on the offensive, knocking Erza's blades out her hands and kicking her away, only to be bombarded with demonic blasts from Mirajane while Kagura came from behind and sliced it up with the Archenemy, the blade actually making small cuts on the Demon King's body.

Annoyed, it knocked Kagura away, knocking the sword out of her hands in stabbing it into a rock, soon doing the same for Erza before turning on Mirajane, forcing her, despite her enhanced strength, to the ground, where it was poised to crush her throat as it did Elfman and Dirge. However, as the blow was about to be dealt, it hesitated. "Mirajane, no!" my voice was heard coming from the Demon King's new vessel. Mira took this opportunity to get loose and retaliate.

"Nakama, please! I know you're still in there, please fight against this monster!"

My entire body was numb from pain, but I still raised my fist to Saligia as it walked up to me calmly, letting the horde of demons watch the massacre. He caught my fist. "Still fighting?" it wondered, a sick grin spread across its face.

As he caught my fist, more vision were pumped into my head, about the battle, how the three girls were the last ones fighting and two of them were defeated, about how it was about to murder my nakama.

"Mirajane, no!" I yelled, forcing out what magic I had left and more, managing to knock the beast away from me quite forcefully all things considered. I managed to find new strength, attacking yet again, and with each point of contact, new vision formed in my head, until I could almost see what was happening.

"Please, nakama, you have to fight this monster!" Mirajane begged from the outside before Saligia knocked me away in here and her away out there, with the two of them continuing their own fight in the real world.

"I'm trying…" I mumbled, hoping she would hear me. "But I can't do it alone…" I lamented as I stood hunched over. My shirt torn off in the battle, my pants ripped in several places, gashes on my body, my arm broken. I was practically beaten.

Saligia walked up to me, raising its hand to land the final blow. I looked up at him weakly, resigning to my fate as he brought his fist down to plunge it through my chest, but suddenly, he was blasted away by an invisible energy. "But you're not alone!" I heard from behind me, and out of nowhere, Mirajane ran in front of me, shielding me. "Your friends are with you, always, in your heart!"

"A subconscious projection," Saligia looked unimpressed. "Not unlike these demons."

I felt hands pull me to stand. "Stand tall and proud, like a true Fairy Tail Wizard," Erza ordered.

"We won't let you lose this fight," Kagura soon agreed, lifting my only good hand to aim at Saligia.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Bastard," Natsu insulted the Demon King. "This is Ash's heart; you're an outsider."

"I'd be a poor teacher if I wasn't always with you along the way," even Precht, before he fell to the darkness, was with me.

Tears began to fall from my eyes as more and more people who I've met along the way. Almost all of Fairy Tail, Edo-Fairy Tail, Mystogan, Knightwalker, Sting and Rogue, everyone was crowding around me, lending me their strength, more than I could ever dream of wielding on my own, while Mirajane was in front of me, holding her arms out and emitting a bright light, keeping the horde of demons away, even destroying any who would come near us.

"Thank you…" I choked out through the tears. "I couldn't do it without all of you with me…thank you so much…"

Saligia looked genuinely worried at this point, though it also was done waiting. It burst forward and struck Mirajane back to us, where she also lent us her power. The Demon King then held up its hand. "Now you die, along with your pathetic mortal _friends_!" it yelled.

"No…not yet…" I begged.

"Die, mortals!"

"I refuse to just be your puppet!" Suddenly, a figure burst in front of us and threw an armored fist towards the Demon King, shooting right past it, proceeding to pin its arms to its side. "Now's your chance!" Mard Geer yelled; here too, born from Saligia's being. "Use it all!"

Feeling a tug, I let loose all of the magic we'd accumulated, screaming from the exertion. The beam was incredible, truly a sight to behold. It wasn't so much a spell as much as it was pure energy, shot directly at the Demon King in a massive beam, soon engulfing him, causing him immense pain.

Now unable to escape, I released whatever I could scrounge up from myself, from everyone around me. We all fought as one, completely obliterating Saligia.

Mirajane continued to combat it, soon losing the upper hand. Blindly, she mad a dash for the Demon King and grabbed hold of it, refusing to let go no matter how much punishment it would inflict. "Please, Inigo, you can't leave me! I have to come back! Please!" she begged. She then quieted herself, smiling her beautiful smile in faint hope. "Please…shine for me…? Like you've shined so many times before…?"

Suddenly, a bright white light was emitted from my body, knocking Mirajane back from the force. Saligia held its head in pain, its eyes soon fading from a void black to divine white. The force from the magic that was being shot out in an infinite number of directions was insurmountable.

The power caused tornadoes to form from the swirling magic power, the earth beneath us shattered and collided into earthquakes, storms billowed overhead and bombarded the area with lightning bolts.

Then suddenly, everything stopped.

My body went limp, with Mirajane once again holding onto me. I looked up, Mirajane seeing my familiar golden eyes. I smiled weakly before falling. I fell a long way before Mirajane caught me and lowered me gently to rest of the rock which held the Archenemy.

MY face was contorted to show pain, unbearable pain as it was solely my own will now that was holding back Saligia. "Mirajane…nakama…" I choked out, the blood from the wounds of battle forming on my body, one on my shoulder oozed blood, staining the remembrance cloth which was tied onto it red.

She grazed my cheek, tears of happiness pouring out. "It's okay, I'm here. Please, stay with me, please…"

I closed my eyes and shook my head. "Please…" I reached to my side with my good hand and pulled out the Archenemy. "You have to…do it…"

"Do…what?" she wondered, already knowing the answer.

"Kill me…" I begged. "I can't…hold it back much longer."

"I…can't…" she claimed, now sobbing. I shook my head again and forced the blade into her hands.

"You're the _only_ one…who's still strong enough to do it. Please, Mira…it hurts…it's unbearable…"

Slowly, Mirajane stood, tears streaming down her cheeks as she raised the blade.

"Mirajane…I love you. Please, remember that. I'll always love you, nakama…"

With one last cry, Mirajane ran me through the heart, releasing a massive energy which coalesced into the sword. My heart stopped soon after, with Mirajane sobbing over my lifeless body as the others approached, also in tears.

I woke slowly, to a sea of light. I was still laying over the rock where I'd died, but instead of a stormy night, it was soft and serene. I saw someone reaching toward me, so many people actually, reaching for me. "Wings…" I muttered. "Devil's…?" I wondered before seeing a set of cerulean eyes and short white hair not unlike her elder sister's. "No…angel's…" I said as I reached for her hand, taking it in mine.

My story was over.


	59. 59 Epilogue: His Story

I saw everything that had happened in the aftermath of the fight. The residents of Edolas were returned with no charges or anything, though they were given the story and had the lacrima of their Earthland counterparts extracted to avoid messing up the balance.

Fairy Tail, upon most of its members being reunited in battle and to honor how the battle had been won, had decided to reform the guild, with the first mission being to rebuild the guild hall and then find their Master.

Kagura and Mirajane took time to mourn more as they had literally lost family, having taken the blood-stained remembrance cloth from my body and have Kagura have it, believing that that was what I would've wanted, and it was as fitting a destiny for the fabric as any I could think of.

And then, of course, I burst awake yet again, after having been lifted into the afterlife, and was met with a face in mine. "Hey there!" it greeted. I stood, not so much cautious, hell, I was dead, what did I care, but I was rather skeptical. The figure was vaguely male, but was also like an angel, with a flawless face, hair, everything, save for its clothes; black robes which only reminded of death. "I was wondering when you'd join me, Devil Slayer, Inigo Asher."

"Um…who are you?" I wondered.

"I'm Ankhseram, the God of Life and Death," it claimed.

"Uh-huh…right…" I just kind of accepted it. "It would explain your horrible sense of fashion, ancient deity," I teased it, cracking a smile.

"Ever the jokester," it pouted.

"You're a God, right?"

"Nope, I'm _the_ God, or as close as there is one in this world. I control the balance of the very universe. I am absolutely divine!" it claimed.

"Right…so what do you want with me?"

"With you? Not much, I came to congratulate you!"

"For what?"

"For helping me out. See, you played a major role in keeping the guy who's gonna kill the worst offender of my principles, Natsu Dragneel, alive during the battle with Tartarus. I wasn't sure what I was gonna do if you hadn't have showed up," it admitted. "And for re-sealing my ultimate back pain, Saligia."

"So…is that it?"

"Well, not really. See, I'm a merciful deity, so I figure I could give you a favor or two, so long as neither of them affect the balance," it offered. "Maybe to right a wrong from the past or to bring someone who's always dead here so you can chat or something like that."

"Can I…bring someone to life?"

"Absolutely not, raising the dead is strictly forbidden," it said.

I shook my head. "No, not raising the dead; creating life."

"You mean like a child?"

"Yeah…something like that."

Ankhseram clapped its hands. "Sounds good to me. It might be a stretch but it's nothing unnatural for a child to be born. What do you want your perfect child to be?"

"Wait, you said I have two favors, right? Can you affect another world?"

"Sure can! I'm omnipotent after all!"

Edolas had slowly returned to normal, though for my efforts in saving the new queen, I was given a statue, with a phrase I'd said before, no doubt learned from Knightwalker's Earthland counterpart: "A family that I chose to have and become a part of, where anyone will be accepted. I'd do anything for the family I've received and the world in which I can choose that family."

Edo-Lisanna and Mira were sleeping at that time, back in their guild hall, but something felt off to Lisanna. She sat up in the shared room and looked at her sister, feeling a pang of guilt from having aided in my death. However, out of nowhere, a bright golden light emerged in a sort of portal shape, and from which I walked out of it. Lisanna was too shocked to speak as I walked toward Edo-Mira.

I then noticed that Edo-Lisanna was watching, and I turned to her. I held my finger up to my lips, silently telling her to remain quiet. She slowly nodded as I held my hand over Edo-Mira's face and a soft light enveloped it. When the light faded, I turned around and exited through the portal the way I came, the light fading and leaving no sign that it was there.

Edo-Lisanna rushed to her sister and shook her awake. "What? What is it, Lisanna?" Edo-Mira questioned as she sat up, sleepy, rubbing the sleep from her eye.

"Mirajane…" tears rolled down Lisanna's cheeks. "Your other eye…" she muttered, the two both realizing at the same time that it had reformed, the same as it had been before it was taken. "Ash gave it back…Mira, your eye is back…"

In Earthland, things slowly went back to routine, save for Kagura and Mirajane, who were still mourning at mine and Mira's cottage house. I hovered above them as an Ethereal form not unlike Mavis Vermillion did sometimes, though I was truly invisible. I watched them mill about as in a trance, going about the routines without me in a stupor.

I looked to Ankhseram, who was floating alongside me. "Alright, go ahead," I said. "Give her our child, whose magic will be sealed away within the blade that held the Demon King."

Ankhseram nodded and held its hand out to Mirajane, golden light forming within its hand and shot into Mirajane's stomach. She keeled over slightly, getting the attention from Kagura. "What's wrong? What is it?" she wondered.

"I…don't know, I just…fell strange."

Ankhseram looked to me. "And what will this child be named?" it wondered. The name popped into mine and Mira's head simultaneously.

Yuri Asher; his story will be one worth telling.

To be continued in _Living Legacy..._


End file.
